March 3, 2009

Arlington, Texas -

Nicholls State Game Notes

GAME #28
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON (18-9 Overall, 12-2 SLC) vs. NICHOLLS STATE (2-23 Overall, 2-12 SLC)
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
7 p.m. - Texas Hall - Arlington, Texas

LIVE STATS
- Updated statistics, news releases, phone numbers, Live Game Statistics and more is available at www.utamavs.cstv.com.

SERIES HISTORY WITH THE COLONELS
All-Time Record - Mavericks lead series, 30-1
Last Meeting - Mavs won, 80-61 on January 17, 2008 in Thibodaux, La.
Last UTA Victory - Mavs won, 80-61 on January 17, 2008 in Thibodaux, La.
Current Streak - UTA has won the last 12 meetings

SCOUTING THE COLONELS
- The Colonels (2-23, 2-12) lost last time out on the floor to conference and in-state foe McNeese State, 70-55, in Lake Charles, La.

- In the game, Nicholls had three players cross the decade mark, and were led by true freshman Jasmine Hoskins with 17.

- Leading Nicholls in scoring and rebounding entering the game against the Mavericks is senior Christie Bryant. Bryant is averaging 11.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg.

- Nicholls State's only two victories came against Sam Houston State (Feb. 22), 76-74 and Central Arkansas (Feb. 25), 71-64.

GAME RECAP: UT ARLINGTON AT SAM HOUSTON STATE
The UT Arlington women's basketball team improved to 12-2 in conference action with an 83-65 victory over Sam Houston State on Saturday, February 28 at the Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas.

The win improved the Mavs to 18-9 overall, 12-2 in conference play while the Bearkats fell to 8-19 on the season and 5-9 in league play.

Senior Candice Champion led the Mavericks with her 12th double-double performance, collecting 20 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. With two games remaining in the regular season and 23 points shy, Champion inches closer in collecting her 1,000 career point.

It took the Mavericks several minutes to transition to the Bearkats defense in the first half as they trailed by one, at 8-7 with 14:44 on the clock. A quick layup and a pair of made free throws by Candice Champion gave UTA a three-point advantage at the 13:24 mark.

The Mavs finally adjusted, leading by nine in the first half following a LaTosha Duffey jumper at the 9:18 mark. Sam Houston State connected on a three and a jumper, dipping into the Mavericks lead. UT Arlington seemed to be on track, taking a nine point lead until Sam Houston State scored multiple baskets, heading into the locker rooms down by four at 36-32.

UTA finished the first half shooting 46.6 percent (15-of-32) from the floor to SHSU's 40 percent (10-of-25) from the field.

The Mavericks opened the second half on a 14-5 run, sparked by a converted three-point play by Champion. UTA used their inside game to their advantage as Meghan Nelson and Champion took over, leading the Mavs over the Bearkats by 19 with 5:18 left in the game.

UT Arlington held off Sam Houston State in the final minutes of the game and secured their 18th win of the season.

Nelson finished with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor, including 5-of-8 from the free throw line and dished out seven assists. Tamara Simmons recorded 13 points and eight assists while Shalyn Martin added 13 points and 14 rebounds to go with four assists and four steals.

For the game, UTA shot 45.6 percent (31-of-68) from the field, 40 percent (4-of-10) from three-point range and 70.8 percent (17-of-24) from the free throw line.

DIXON AND CHAMPION LEAD SLC IN SCORING AND REBOUNDING
- As the only two seniors on the Mavericks squad, forwards Candice Champion and Erin Dixon have done their part to lead the Mavs to a 12-2 league mark and 18-9 overall record.

- Champion has scored in double-figures in 26 of UTA's 27 games this season and has finished with 20 or more points in 14 games. She leads the league in scoring with 18.8 points per game and is tied with Dixon in rebounding with 10.9 per game.

- Fellow senior Dixon has dominated the boards for the Mavericks and league since the start of the season. Dixon is tied for first with 10.9 rebounds per game and the team with 10.1per game.

- Dixon has collected 10 double-doubles this season and has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 15 contests this season.

MAVERICKS DROP FIRST HOME GAME
- After collecting six straight victories at Texas Hall, SE Louisiana ended the Mavericks win streak on Wednesday, February 18 with a 74-82 victory.

- The Lady Lions also ended UT Arlington's eight straight victories. The Mavericks had posted home wins against Midwestern State, Houston Baptist, Texas State, UTSA, Sam Houston State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Northwestern State.

- The Mavs got back on track on Wednesday, Feb. 25 with a 66-59 home victory against Lamar University. UTA will hosts a final home game against Nicholls State on Wednesday, Mar. 4. Game times is set for 7 p.m.

UT ALRINGTON AMONG THE BEST IN THE NCAA
- UTA ranks 29th overall in scoring offense behind University of Texas with a 72.1 percentage. The Mavericks have outscored their opponents by a 1946 to 1757 margin.

- UT Arlington also ranks among the very best in field-goal percentage, sitting in 18th, connecting on 702-of-1559 of their shots.

- Individually, Candice Champion and Erin Dixon represent UT Arlington in the NCAA statistics.

- Champion's 17.9 points per game ranks her 39th, her field-goal percentage of 53.8 ranks her 27th and ranks 23rd in rebounds per game with 9.7.

- Dixon's combined 272 rebounds (9.7) per game ranks her 18th overall.

Shalyn Martin, UTA'S TOP DEFENDER
- Sophomore Shalyn Martin has started in all 56 games in her UTA career and has proved to be one of the Mavericks top defensive players as she has already surpassed her blocks and steals total from last season.

- In her first season, Martin finished with 21 blocks and 31 steals for the Mavs.

- With two games remaining in the regular season, the Mansfield Summit standout has recorded 32 blocks and has picked her opponents pocket 32 times this season.

- Martin is six blocks shy of having the 10th most block shots in Maverick single-season history.

CHAMPION EARNS THIRD SLC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
- After leading the Mavs to wins over Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State, senior Candice Champion was named the Southland Conference women's basketball player of the week for the third time this season.

- Champion led the Mavericks to a 2-0 record with 44 points and 20 rebounds. The Waco, Texas, native finished with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor, including 6-of-6 from the free throw line to go along with eight rebounds and two assists on the road against Stephen F. Austin.

- For the fifth time this season, Champion recorded a double-double performance at home against Sam Houston State with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Champion was 8-of-10 from the field, including 6-of-6 from the charity stripe and added two assists in 39 minutes of action. She leads the team with 17.1 points per game and is perfect at the free throw line.

Meghan Nelson TAKES OVER THE POINT
- With the loss of starting point guard Kiarra Shofner in the first conference game of the season against Texas State, UT Arlington looked to junior Meghan Neslon to step in and be the Mavericks new floor general.

- Nelson has done exactly that leading the Mavs in scoring in four of five games in conference.

- Stepping up again against UTSA (2/14) for the top spot in the West was Nelson, who recorded a career-high 24 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field and grabbed seven boards for the Mavs.

- The junior guard scored a game-high 21 points versus UTSA (1/14), followed by a team-high 15 points on the road against Lamar (1/17) and notched a season-high 23 points at Stephen F. Austin (1/21).

- In conference action, Nelson is third on the team in scoring with 11.1 points per game and in points scored with 301.

CHAMPION NEEDS 22 POINTS TO REACH 1,000 POINT MILESTONE
- With two conference games left on the 2008-09 season and the Southland Conference Tournament nearing, senior Candice Champion is well on her way to reaching the 1,000 point club.

- So far this season, Champion has pocketed 482 points and has already surpassed her point tally from last season. Champion's 482 points ranks her 10th all-time in points scored in a single-season surpassing Camellia Bowen from the 1988-90 season.

- In conference alone, the senior is averaging 18.8 points per game and 17.9 overall. In Champion's last eight games, she has finished with 20 or ore points in six games.

JUNIOR Kiarra Shofner RETURNS TO MAVERICKS LINEUP
- Kiarra Shofner made her first appearance on the court for the Mavericks on Wednesday, February 11 against McNeese State in Lake Charles, La. after missing out on eight conference games.

- Shofner suffered a knee injury in the Mavs first conference game against Texas State on January 10.

- The junior guard played three minutes against the Cowgirls.