Women's Basketball

Candice Champion and the Mavericks open the season Nov. 14.

UT ARLINGTON WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE SET FOR 2008-09

Second-year coach Samantha Morrow says tough slate will prepare her team for league play.

July 15, 2008

2008-09 UT Arlington Women's Basketball Schedule

ARLINGTON - - Back-to-back games against Metroplex teams SMU and TCU, a matchup against last season's Big 12 Champion and a December tournament in The Bahamas highlight the 2008-09 UT Arlington women's basketball schedule.

The season begins Friday, Nov. 14 with a game on the road against SMU. The Mavericks and second-year coach Samantha Morrow are trying to improve on a solid season last year after the Mavericks went 19-10 and advanced to the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals. UT Arlington had just two seniors on last year's team.

"This schedule will allow us to see a little bit of everything - different styles and very tough competition," Morrow said. "There shouldn't be any surprises once conference gets here."

After the games against SMU (Nov. 14) and at TCU (Nov. 20), it doesn't get any easier as UT Arlington takes on Texas Tech in a Nov. 23 game in Lubbock. One of the team's two non-conference home games follow with a game Nov. 26 against Midwestern State. After that home game, a seven-game road trip is highlighted by a Dec. 14 game against defending Big 12 champion Kansas State and a tournament in The Bahamas.

"We'll do some stuff to really make that a special trip for our players," Morrow said. "They're very excited about it and looking forward to getting out there and playing in that event."

The road trip ends with a game against Tulsa before UT Arlington returns home Jan. 3 against Houston Baptist to close out the non-conference schedule. The Southland Conference opener is Jan. 10 at home against Texas State. In conference play, UT Arlington will play 4 p.m. games on Saturday and 7 p.m. games on weeknights.

"We're going to be young, but I think we'll be more prepared than we were last season," Morrow said. "We've had these players for a full spring, and they stayed around this summer to work out and prepare for the first practices. That makes a big difference when you're trying to get people to play in a new system."

UT Arlington returns second-leading scorer Candice Champion (10.5 points per game), third-leading scorer Shalyn Martin (9.1) and guard Tamara Simmons, who hit 35.6 percent of her shots behind the 3-point line.