Shooting Woes

I mentioned in the last basketball post that I was slowly starting to dislike the way I was covering some UT Arlington athletic events. I don't want this to be a source straight game recaps, but rather a place for opinions to be expressed regarding the UTA Intercollegiate Athletic Department. So I'm gonna try a different approach with my first women's basketball entry.

I had something typed up prior to Thanksgiving, but an outage caused the post to be deleted. I had a self-imposed deadline because of the holidays and really don't like it took this long for the first women's basketball blog entry to be posted. But it did change the tone of the entry somewhat as my first take has adjusted slightly after the Houston game, where some of the concerns and observations I had were challenged or disputed. 

At an overall record of 3-5, with only two of those wins against Division I, my initial impression is the Mavericks are underperforming compared to the preseason expectations. However, the schedule is definitely tiered. There are four losses to teams in the top half of DI and the fifth is to one that's seven spots from the top half.

The losses include a 73-54 setback at Arizona, 71-60 at Louisiana Tech, 93-65 at Arkansas, 73-55 at Purdue and a 71-46 drugging in Dallas by SMU. Arizona was a return trip in a home and home. La Tech was a part of the Western Athletic Conference / Conference USA scheduling alliance. I'm not certain of the rest, but it would appear they are guarantee games where that school writes a check for a one-and-done series at their place. 

The wins include a 105-35 home win against the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association's Arlington Baptist, a too-close 73-71 road win at East Texas A&M (I love their name change to reflect their historic roots, BTW) and now a 61-57 home win at College Park Center, the fourth straight in the series for UTA.

There have been bright spots for sure. The known was fifth-year senior forward Avery Brittingham. She is second on the team in points per game with 12.7, first in rebounds at 9.3, first in assists at 3.6 per and second at field goal percentage with 40.5 percent of shots going in. Brittingham has more free throw makes at 25 then and player on the Mavs have free throw attempts. 

Fellow fifth-year forward Koi Love, a transfer from Southern California, is leading the team in scoring at 16.4 ppg, tied for second in rebounds at 5.3 boards per game, second in assists at 2.6 APG and first in field goal percentage at 49 percent.

Senior forward Zoe Nelson is third in points at 7.4 per game and tied with Love at 5.3 rebounds. Sophomore forward Mya Perkins is the only other Mav above four boards with 4.7 RPG to go with her 5.1 points per.

The next nearest Maverick is not above eight points a game nor above two assists a game. Only one other Mav is at a three rebounds per game average. And that is the greatest issue UTA has ran into at this point in the season. As a team, .377 from the field, which is slightly below okay. What really has been the problem is the three-point shooting, 14.1 percent, and free throws, 62.1 percent. Both of those have been killer. 

Notice the three Mav names mentioned are all forwards. UTA has to have a guard or two step up. It doesn't have to be in the shape of points. A guard that racks up the assists or free throw percentage will have a huge impact on the team's future outlook.

For example, against La Tech, an 11-point loss, UTA shot poorly, 1-17 from three-point land and nine of 19 from the charity stripe. Even though the game was in Ruston, if UTA's hopes for this season are going to be reached, this is a game they should be more competitive in. With that type of shooting, UTA making it just an 11-point game is pretty amazing.

UTA was one of ten shooting the three and eight of 17 from the free throw line against Arkansas, one of 11 against ETAMU from behind the arc, three of 16 shooting three at Purdue, two of 18 from three and four of seven (only seven!) against SMU.

I'm waiting for senior guard Taliyah Clark to get to last year's level. Currently, her points per game average is a straight seven. She made 60 of 173 three-point shots en route to 12.3 points per game but, this year, is only six of 25 from behind the arc, a 24 percent shooting average. If she gets consistently better game-to-game from here on out, UTA will be a force in the WAC.

As far as the schedule is concerned, UTA looked very rough to start. I'm not a fan of non-Division-I games, because clearly, despite a score difference of around 70, that game did little to help UTA. The big-name losses are what they are, all on the road. I had hopes against Arkansas, as they needed overtime to defeat Little Rock and lost to Fairfield of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, but they gave up 93 points.

While I hope any UTA can beat anyone anytime, it is harder in basketball than any other sport, regardless of gender. Wins against Ohio State, Memphis and Texas-Austin still ring to this day because of how special they are on the men's basketball side. That last win is still the only win against the Austinites in 14 tries. Volleyball has beat the Longhorns 22 times, baseball 18 and softball twice. The women's basketball team is the only one without a win. All-time, they have 57 wins against teams in the "Power 4" conferences. 37 of those wins are against SMU and TCU. The other 20 wins are against 37 other teams. In short, they don't happen often.

But that East Texas A&M game was very concerning to me. The Lions are still transitioning to Division I from the lower Division. While they were within a whisker of a really good season last year, they haven't had a winning season in DI. Even on the road, UTA should not have had the challenge they did. The bright spot was they trailed nine at halftime and it went to twelve early in the third quarter. But the Mavericks played with a better intensity in the second half, particularly the fourth quarter. There were a couple of times it looked like ETAMU hurt themselves, but the Mavericks did not, which is just as important. 

Houston dispelled some of my concerns. It helps playing in the friendly confines of College Park Center. It also helps Houston, despite being in the Big 12, is struggling this year too, currently 228 in the NET rankings. UTA was three of eight from three land, which is a better percentage, but fewer shots, which maybe what they need to do. They could have put the game away, but poor free throw shooting, ten of 23, kept the game closer than it should have been. But an effective 24 of 52 shooting from the field was what won the game for the Mavs.

The good news is, the non-conference does not matter to earn postseason play. Nothing about the WAC is showing multiple bids this year, so like most years, the conference games are what matters. UTA is currently 268 in the NET rankings, good for fifth in the nine-team WAC.

UTA has to figure out guard play, has to raise the free throw shooting percentage and become a little more consistent, accurate and selective from three-point land. If they shoot less attempts, but have a higher overall field goal percentage, the wins should come. Defense has been adequate, and theoretically should be better in conference play.

The three remaining non-conference games are all winnable. Florida International is 306 in the NET, last in CUSA. The Panthers are next up for UTA on December 16 at CPC. Familiar foe UT San Antonio will host the Mavericks on December 19. They are a good opportunity for UTA to move up in the rankings with a 50 NET spot. The Roadrunners were picked fifth of 13 in the American Athletic Conference's preseason poll. They also beat the Mavs last year in Arlington 70-66. After that is NAIA's Wiley College. UTA welcomes the non-DI school on December 30th.

All games times have a 4pm tip.