March 6, 2009

Arlington, Texas -

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Game Notes

GAME #29
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON (19-9 Overall, 13-2 SLC) vs. TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (11-17 Overall, 6-9 SLC)
Saturday, March 7, 2009
1 p.m. - American Bank Center - Corpus Christi, 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 ISLANDERS
All-Time Record - Mavericks lead series, 6-3
Last Meeting - Mavs won, 88-62 on February 4, 2009 in Arlington, Texas
Last UTA Victory - Mavs won, 88-62 on February 4, 2009 in Arlington, Texas
Current Streak - UTA has won the last five meetings

SCOUTING THE ISLANDERS
- A&M-Corpus Christi is coming off a 71-55 road win on the road against Lamar University on Wednesday, March 4. The Islanders improved to 11-17 on the season and 6-9 in SLC action.

- Adrienne Scott broke out for a season-high 16 points while also grabbing 12 rebounds. Myeisha Myles added 12 points while pulling in a game-high 15 rebounds. Myles also added eight assists, just missing her first-career triple-double.

- In conference, J.D. Davis leads the Islanders with 13.5 points per game while Myeisha Myles leads the team in rebounding with 9.2 per game.

GAME RECAP: NICHOLLS STATE AT UT ARLINGTON
The road to Katy, Texas is nearing for the UT Arlington Mavericks as they recorded a 91-58 blowout win in their final home game of the regular season on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at Texas Hall. Seniors Candice Champion and Erin Dixon were honored prior to the start of the game in senior night.

The victory improved the Mavs to 19-8 overall, 13-2 in conference action while Nicholls State fell to 2-24 on the season and 2-13 in league play.

"Tonight was a great win for us, we're still number one, but we're still not happy," said Head Coach Samantha Morrow. "We have a bigger vision than that."

It took Champion until the 4:46 mark in the second half to record her 1,000 career point after banking a pair of free throws. The senior forward was 22 points shy from reaching the milestone and finished with exactly 22. The Waco, Texas, native recorded her 13th double-double performance, scoring 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

"The last four years - To me, they went by really fast," said Champion. "I remember when I was a freshman and thinking, `Oh Lord, I can't do it, I can't do it.' But now, as I look back the four years just flew by."

The Mavericks struggled in the opening minutes of the first half but regained their composer jumping out to a 13 point advantage, at 20-7 with 13:57 in the first stanza. Nicholls State made a small run, coming within seven points with 5:41 remaining before halftime.

The charity stripe seemed to be the Mavericks friend in the final minutes of the first half as they connected on a perfect 9-of-9 from the line and headed into the locker rooms with a 45-27 lead.

UTA pushed their way to a 31 point advantage with 5:55 remaining in the second half and continued to overpower the Colonels throughout the game.

The Mavs finished the game shooting 59.3 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from three-point range and 78.3 from the free throw line. UTA out-rebounded Nicholls State by a 43-33 margin and recorded 54 points in the paint to the Colonel's 30.

Sophomore's Tamara Simmons and Shalyn Martin notched 17 points while Dixon collected 16 points, six rebounds and five steals. The Pflugerville, Texas, native was also honored alongside Champion at center court.

"There's nothing you can really say about how you feel except being really excited," said Dixon. It's been a lot of hard work. Nothing has really been easy or given to us. We can honestly say that it's been a lot of hard work."

Nadia Cox and Jasmine Hoskins each recorded 12 points while Tiffany Jones added 10 for the Colonels.

CHAMPION LEADS SLC IN SCORING AND REBOUNDING
- Candice Champion is one of two seniors on a squad that is 13-2 in conference action and 19-9 overall.

- Champion has scored in double-figures in 27 of UTA's 28 games this season and has finished with 20 or more points in 15 games. She leads the league in scoring with 19.0 points per game and rebounding with 10.8 boards per game.

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.

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 18.0 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.

MAVERICKS RECORD 91-58 WIN OVER NICHOLLS STATE IN FINAL HOME GAME OF THE REGULAR SEASON
- UTA hosted Nicholls State on Wednesday, March 4 in their final home game of the regular season. UT Arlington recorded a 91-58 blowout victory over the Colonels at Texas Hall.

- The Mavericks also celebrated seniors Candice Champion and Erin Dixon in senior night. The two forwards were honored for their sucessful four-year career's as Mavs.

- Champion had another thing to celebrate as she collected her 1,000 career point.

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 10.9 points per game and in points scored with 305.

CHAMPION RECORDS 1,000 CAREER POINT
- Candice Champion became the 15th player in UTA Women's Basketball history to record her 1,000 career point.

- It took Champion until the 4:46 mark in the second half to record her 1,000 career point after banking a pair of free throws on Wednesday, March 4 against Nicholls State at Texas Hall.

- The senior forward was 22 points shy from reaching the milestone and finished with exactly 22. The Waco, Texas, native recorded her 13th double-double performance, scoring 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

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.