ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington women's basketball team (10-7, 5-1 WAC) remain undefeated at home after picking up a 71-52 win over Abilene Christian (13-8, 2-4 WAC) Saturday afternoon.
 
The win moves the Lady Mavs home record to a perfect 8-0 with four home contests left on the season. This is the first time the Lady Mavs have started off 8-0 when calling the College Park Center home and the first time since the 2007-08 season that the Lady Mavs have started 8-0 at home. The 2007-08 squad won their first eight home games before dropping one, finished the season with a 9-2 home record.
 
The Lady Mavs had four players finish with double digit scoring efforts highlighted by a season high 24 points from Taliyah Clark. Entering today, Clark needed just 21 points to record her 1000th career point, which she got with a minute and a half left in regulation after draining two free throws. She also chipped in with four assists, one rebound and one steal in 30 minutes.
 
Aspen Thornton finished with 14 points, a conference high, to go along with a career high eight assists, season high three steals and one rebound in 27 minutes, another season high for Thornton who faced off against her former team for the first time in a Lady Mavs uniform.
 
Avery Brittingham and Koi Love both finished with 12 points apiece. Brittingham recorded her league leading ninth double double of the season by grabbing 10 boards to go along with an assist and steal in 24 minutes. Love finished with five rebounds, one assist and steal before fouling out after 28 minutes of action. 
 
For the second game in a row, the Lady Mavs controlled the flow from the opening tip, never once trailing in the game. UTA played some stingy defense throughout the game, forcing the Wildcats into 22 turnovers which led to 19 points for the Lady Mavs. 
 
On the game, the Lady Mavs shot 48 percent from the field and 33 percent from deep while holding ACU to 42 percent and 22 percent. For the sixth time this season, the Lady Mavs shot 80 percent or better from the charity stripe after shooting 86 percent this afternoon. 
 
The Lady Mavs bench play was superb yet again, accounting for 16 points for the game.
 
The first half was a battle through its entirety which saw the Wildcats down five with just under 40 seconds remaining in the second before a Brittingham fadeaway midrange with six seconds left put the Lady Mavs back up seven, 33-26 going into the locker room.
 
To start the third, ACU went on a 11-6 run in the first four minutes of the quarter to pull within two, 39-37. UTA would respond with a 10-2 run that put them back up by 10, 49-39. 
 
The Lady Mavs came out scorching hot to start the fourth quarter, going on a 10-0 run that saw them go up by 19 which effectively took the Wildcats out of the game, managing to cut the lead down to 14 on two separate occasions but the Lady Mavs scored the game's final five points to earn them the 19-point victory.
 
NEXT UP
The Lady Mavs hit the road for a two-game road trip through the state of Utah, starting with a stop in Cedar City to take on the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah on Thursday, Jan. 30. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT.
   
FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the women's basketball program on X (formally known as Twitter) (@UTAMavsWBB), Instagram (@UTAMavsWBB) and Facebook (/UTAMavsWBB).