ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington women's basketball team (6-6, 1-0 WAC) won their Western Athletic Conference opener, defeating Tarleton State (9-7, 0-1 WAC) despite a late push by the Texans, by a final score of 87-79 inside the College Park Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
This is the first time in three seasons that the Lady Mavs won their WAC opener and remain perfect inside the CPC during the 2024-25 season at 5-0. Also, the Lady Mavs remain undefeated inside the CPC against the Texans, holding a 3-0 record.
 
The Lady Mavs were led by the dynamic duo of Koi Love and Avery Brittingham who combined for 51 total points. Love finished with a game-high 29 points to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in 34 minutes. Love finished three points shy of tying her career high of 32 while tying her career high in blocks with three.
 
Brittingham finished with another double double, her league leading sixth on the year. She recorded 22 points and 13 rebounds to go along with five assists, one block and one steal in a game-high 39 minutes. 
 
Taliyah Clark was the only other Lady Mav to register double digit scoring efforts, finishing with 10 points and a season-high four assists in 34 minutes. Kendal Robinson chipped in with eight points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal in 27 minutes.
 
Off the bench, Zoe Nelson added six points, four rebounds, one assist, two steals and a block while Aspen Thornton added five points and an assist to help propel the Lady Mavs to victory.


 
The Lady Mavs came out with energy, controlling the opening tip and rattling off the games first seven points before the Texans managed to get a bucket. UTA managed to record eight points off turnovers while registering 12 points in the paint for the first quarter. As a team the Lady Mavs shot 52.9-percent from the floor, 50-percent from deep and a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe in the first quarter. The Lady Mavs led 25-17 after one.
 
The second quarter saw the Lady Mavs keep their foot on the throttle, going on a 9-0 run to start the second and going up 34-17. The Texans managed to battle back behind a 16-0 run that saw Tarleton cut the UTA lead down to one, 34-33. An Avery Brittingham jumper stopped the Texans run while putting the Lady Mavs back up three, 36-33. Heading into the locker room, the Lady Mavs led 43-37 over the Texans.
 
Love led all scorers in the first half with 18 while Brittingham had 10 through two quarters.
 
Coming out the half, the Texans nailed a three pointer to pull with three of the Lady Mavs, 43-40. After trading buckets for the first three minutes of the third quarter, the Lady Mavs would go on a 7-0 run to put them back up by double digits, 55-44. The Texans managed to cut the UTA lead back down to five but could not get over that hump for the remainder of the third. We entered the fourth quarter with the Lady Mavs leading Tarleton, 66-57.
 
UTA managed to push their lead to 16 with under five minutes to go in the fourth, but Tarleton managed to claw their way back, finding themselves down six with 1:17 left in the game. The Lady Mavs would find themselves at the line for the remainder of the fourth, drilling four of their six free throws in the final minute to secure the 87-79 victory over the Texans.
 
The Lady Mavs never once trailed in the game.


 
NEXT UP
The Lady Mavs return to action next Thursday, Jan. 9, when they welcome Utah Tech to Arlington for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff. 
   
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).