Dec. 2, 2009

Arlington, Texas -

Oklahoma Game Notes

Game 7
The UT Arlington women's basketball team will look to take down Oklahoma on Thursday, December 3 at the Legacy Court in Norman, OK. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

UTA-OU SERIES
Thursday's game is the 12th meeting between the schools... OU leads the series 8-3 and leads the series 4-2 in games played in Norman... the last meeting was at Texas Hall on February 2, 1993 where the Mavericks recorded an 80-59 victory... UTA has won the last three meetings against the Sooners.

LAST GAME - UT ARLINGTON 70, USF 67 - Nov. 29, 2009
Meghan Nelson and Tamara Simmons led the Mavericks to a 70-67 victory over USF in the final game of the Basketball Traveler's Classic in Lubbock, Texas... Nelson scored 16 points on 5-12 shooting, including 1-3 from three-point range and 5-of-8 from the liine... UTA trailed the entire second half until the 1:07 mark when Veronica Mergerson tied the game with a huge offensive board and powered her way to a basket and a foul... In a chance to regain possession of the ball, USF was forced to foul in the final seconds of the game... Tamara Simmons was sent to the line three times and knocked down 5 of 6 of her free throws.

AT THIS POINT
UT Arlington continues their 11-game road trip with a stop in Norman, OK... the Mavericks finished last week with a 2-2 record and a 3-3 mark on the season... the Mavericks handled the Kangaroos of UMKC, 72-61 on Tuesday (Nov. 24) but dropped the first and second games of the Basketball Traveler's Classic to Prairie View A&M and Texas Tech... Thursday's meeting will be the fourth consecutive road game.

MAVERICKS VS. BIG 12 OPPONENTS
UT Arlington owns a 12-67 record against Big 12 opponents... the most victories UTA has recorded against one opponents is three... those coming against Baylor, Oklahoma and Texas A&M... the last win against a Big 12 school was on November 21, 2004 where the Mavericks collected a 53-49 win over the Kansas Jayhawks.

NELSON EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM HONORS
Senior Meghan Nelson finished the week scoring in double-figures in all four games for the Mavs... led the Mavericks in scoring against Texas Tech and San Francisco at the Basketball Traveler's Classic in Lubbock, Texas... finished the tournament the with 43 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals... was selected to the four man all-tournament team... best performance of the weekend came against Texas Tech, collecting 16 points on 7 of 13 shooting from the field in 23 minutes of action.

MAVERICKS PICKED TO FINISH 2ND IN LEAGUE
The Mavericks received 53 points and three first-place votes in the coaches' poll. The Mavs tallied 55 points and five first-place votes in the SID poll. Overall UT Arlington was picked second behind Lamar, who finished third in the West Division last season. The Cardinals received 59 points and six first-place votes for the top spot. Last year's defending champion UTSA earned 50 points and two first-place votes while A&M-Corpus Christi collected 34 points and one first-place vote.

SIMMONS & MARTIN EARN PRESEASON HONORS
Tamara Simmons was named to the SLC preseason first-team while Shalyn Martin was named to preseason second team. Simmons finished second on the team with 11.5 points per game and led the squad in assists for the second consecutive season with 124. Martin, the Mavs top defensive player and leading blocker finished last season with 40 blocks and 44 steals. Martin, a native of Arlington, Texas, was named third-team all-conference and was selected to the SLC Tournament and Bahamas Sunsplash All-Tournament team. Joining Martin on the second team were UTSA guard Amber Gregg, A&M-Corpus Christi center Elisa Beagle, Lamar transfer Jenna Plumley, and Texas State guard Victoria Davis.

MAVERICKS VERSUS THE SOONERS
UT Arlington takes on last year's final four finalist the Oklahoma Sooners (4-2)... Oklahoma made its second final four appearance... the Sooners fell to Louisville at the buzzer, 61-59... the Sooners program matched their single-season record for wins with 32 and finished fourth in the national polls... OU is coming off an 81-71 setback over Notre Dame in the final day of the 2009 U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Women's Basketball Tournament... the Sooners had four players finish in double-figures and finished the game shooting 49.2 percent from the field... Danielle Robinson led the Sooners with 26 points and six assists... Robinson shot 11-15 from the field, including 4-4 from the free throw line... Robinson leads the team with 15.8 points per game and was voted a preseason All-American... Amanda Thompson leads the team in rebounding with 9.3 boards per game.

KEY FACTORS
Disadvantages
The Mavericks will be outmatched by the Sooners size wise as every player on the OU roster stands 5-9 and taller... the Sooners have two players standing at 6-4... UT Arlington roster size ranks 5-5 to 6-1... UTA's inside game has struggled as opponents have outscored the Mavricks 168-188...as a team, the Mavs average 18 turnovers per game and opponents have converted 112 points off of their turnovers.
Advantages
UT Arlington's will use their quickness to their advantage, they have outscored their opponents 64-38 on fast break points and have picked their opponents pocket 58 times... the Mavs have won the battle in second chance points outscoring its opponent 72-60.

STEPPING UP
Since the graduation of senior Candice Champion, the Mavericks have looked to their freshman forward Donna Dike to step in and so far that's exactly what she has done... Tuesday, November 17, Dike brought down a career-high 18 rebounds against University of Houston... seven of Dike's rebounds were offensive... Dike leads the Mavericks and the conference with 13.5 rebounds per game.

NOTHING BLOCKING HER WAY
Junior Shalyn Martin continues to be the Mavericks top defensive player as she already has recorded four blocks and 10 steals... Martin posted her first double-double of the season against Rice (11/13) with a 13-point, 13-rebound performance... posted her second double-double of the season against Prairie View A&M (11/27) with a 20-point, 14-rebound performance... against Houston, Martin finished with 13 points, five rebounds, four blocks and four steals... Martin is second in both block shots (4) and steals (8) in the Southland Conference... Martin recorded a career-high 23 points against UMKC (11/24) on 8-of-15 shooting from the field.

AFTER TONIGHT
After tonight, the Mavericks will go back to work on Friday for a light practice and weights... the team will then have the weekend off and go back to work Monday through Thursday in preparation for Saturday night's game in Cape Girardeau, MO against Southeast Missouri at 5:30 p.m.