As mentioned at the start of the last post, the UT Arlington women's basketball team concluded their season this month. Unlike the men, they ended on a higher note. Like the men, the losses they faced were to teams that are hard to lose to in any sport.
UTA opened the Western Athletic Conference tournament against California Baptist and after splitting the season series, UTA was looking to advance, which they did, 72-66. UTA used a nine-point first quarter advantage and two two-point second and third quarters to weather a seven-point deficit in the fourth for the six-point win.
That set the stage for a semifinal affair with Tarleton. Like CBU, UTA split the regular season games against the Texans and were looking for a series win. UTA trailed by one at the half, but wore out the Texans for a 66-55 win.
As expected, Grand Canyon advanced to the title game in the opposite end of the bracket and I'll avoid the commentary about this school that I gave in the equivalent men's post, but the idea is there is little love lost between the two schools.
UTA played an inspired game through most of the 40 minutes. Despite a late GCU surge, UTA clung to a one-point lead at the halfway break. The pattern for this UTA team in losses this year was a break in the flow that allowed an opponent to get a big lead. That didn't happen in the third quarter as I feared it would. The Mavericks scored 22 but gave up 19 for a four-point lead going into the final quarter.
However, four turnovers in the first half of the final quarter along with one-for-four shooting turned a four-point lead into a four-point deficit. The Mavs fought back and actually had the ball with four seconds while trailing one. However, a GCU player snuck behind Graduate forward Avery Brittingham and forced an uncharacteristic turnover. The Mavericks eventually lost 65-62.
The dynamic duo of Brittingham and Graduate forward Koi Love placed on the WAC all-tournament team.
Head Coach Sherika Wright gave hope that the Mavericks season wasn't over in the postgame press conference. A short time later, UTA learned they were invited to the Women's National Invitational Tournament.
UTA hosted the Southland Conference's Incarnate Word in the first round. The Mavericks controlled the game from the outset en route to a 78 to 52 win. It was the second postseason win in program history joining the 2019 WNIT win against Stephen F. Austin.
UTA knew ahead of time that the winner would head to Denton and face the North Texas Mean Green. UNT won't schedule UTA in the regular season, so the Mavericks have to find them in the postseason.
UTA started the game in a dominant fashion, holding UNT without a field goal until late in the first quarter but in a theme, free throws kept UNT in the game, nine of ten to be exact. At the end of one quarter, UTA was up 16-15.
In an incredible sequence where UTA's Senior forward Zoe Nelson picked up a foul, there was incredible disparity at that point in the game, followed by a technical when she expressed her displeasure. UTA was up one before that play and counting free throws and the ensuing UNT possession, UTA was no trailing by seven. It was a momentum changer for sure as UNT rode it to a 31-11 second quarter advantage. The referees clearly rattled the Mavericks.
UTA clawed back in the third with a 17-3 run. In the midst of that streak was the number two play of that night's Sportscenter Top Ten when Love gave a bounce pass to Junior guard Nya Threatt between the legs of Love's defender and Threatt laid the ball in as she was fouled. It was a truly remarkable play that sparked the run.
Unfortunately, the second quarter was too much to overcome as UTA wasn't able to get the UNT lead lower than five. A scoreless stretch of almost four minutes to start the fourth didn't help as UTA fell by 11, 78-67.
Most stats were balanced, though UTA trailed in rebounds by double digits. UTA scored 12 from the free throw line on 16 attempts. On the other end of the court, UNT was 27 of 32. When you think of basketball skills, fans tend to want field goals, rebounds and long-range shots. I suspect fans tend to want to see free throw contests less. I further suspect they want less what occurred, one team shooting double the number of free throws.
I mentioned last post that basketball suffers from a perceived referee impact. That certainly was the case here. I left that game thinking UTA didn't lose to UNT, but that someone was bad at their job. That's not a recipe for success to build a sport.
UTA had a much better crowd, 1,167 for their WNIT game than UNT did for theirs, 815. Couple with the fact that little of UTA's crowd was bolstered by UIW fans, but easily a third and closer to a half of the UNT crowd was UTA faithful that made the trip, and it is easy to see why there is a feeling of optimism surround the women's program, despite the fact that UTA loses Brittingham and Love are out of eligibility. UNT may have a football program and therefore able to increase its conference quality, but UTA has some great pieces for its women's team.
I don't know of any players in the portal yet. Coach Wright has made it clear she is already working on next season. With the results she has gotten so far, Maverick fans are hopeful she will keep up the level UTA has attained.
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