Women's historic finish

I mentioned I'd get to this post in my last entry and after earning every bit of it, I know want to give the UT Arlington women's basketball team their proper accolades. The 2021/22 UTA women's basketball team may very well be the best in the history of the Athletic program.

UTA was picked third in the Sun Belt Conference pre-season poll, behind Troy and Louisiana. It was a hard year to predict the field as the SBC was coming off divisional play where the west didn't play the east. UTA's leading scorer was an unknown to the conference, which further complicated the prognostication.  

The Mavericks started the season with a 6-3 non-conference mark. The most notable win was a 61-56 mark over South Florida, who was ranked 13th in the nation at the time. It was UTA's first ever win over a ranked opponent. Other wins included Sam Houston St., Houston, North Texas, UNLV and Rice. The three losses were to Baylor, Kansas City and Oklahoma St.

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

 I'll provide a much bigger, in-depth post later, but I wanted to send The Maverick Rambler's congrats to Coach Sherika Wright and the UT-Arlington women's basketball team on their second-place regular season finish and victory in today's Sun Belt tournament championship game. 

We've hit a drought with the team sports in getting a conference tournament finals win, with the last being in 2012 with baseball. This is exactly what Maverick Nation needed.

Shout our praises to the sky,

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

Go big Maverick.

First Time Champs

 While not an official entry into This Day in UTA Basketball History, I want to touch base with one of the most historic teams in UT Arlington Men's Basketball history. The 2003/04 men's team made waves on campus as they played their way into the record books.

First, I have been collecting old media guides for UTA's sports teams. I saw an entry for the 2003/04 team. Seeing as how that was my final year at UTA, I knew I had that guide at one point. However, when I went through my old books, I didn't have it anymore. So, I grabbed it, since it had a more personal touch than a standard guide I have been acquiring did.

I forgot how loaded that team was at the top. I knew every player and could recall them by memory, but as time passed, I forgot they played together as team leaders. Donnie Beacham, Roy Johnson, Keith Howell, and Derrick Obasohan were seniors on that team. We'll look back at their accomplishments in a bit.

UTA had been a member of the Southland Conference for nearly 40 years when this season started. Despite the amount of time spent in the conference, the men's basketball team was the only team to not have won a conference championship of some kind on the men's side. Ironically enough, the women's basketball team was the only women's sport to not claim a conference championship either.