While the early 2-4 record for the UT Arlington women's basketball team isn't appealing on the surface, there's certainly things about this team that should build excitement for the part of the schedule that matters most, conference play.
Looking over the Western Athletic Conference, scores have not indicated a true favorite like there was last year. UTA's schedule was known to be challenging prior to the start of the season. Given the Mavericks recent conference performances the last few years, it seems something is working. The hope is this translates to a success WAC performance.
The Mavs opened the season with two straight losses at Houston (59-76) and at home to Missouri State (53-69). The first win was in College Park Center to Wyoming (64-44) and a second in a row to Tennessee State (78-58). In the one-that-got-away category, UTA suffered a 55-66 loss at Lamar. There, they led the Cardinals 38-26 with less than a minute gone in the 3rd quarter and it ended with the Mavs down 44-45. Most recently in the Hawaii North Shore Showcase, UTA slugged it out with Colorado, dropping another 60-71. In that game, UTA had a lead late in the first quarter before it ended in a tie. UTA was trailing by a point before a basket as time expired gave the Buffaloes a three-point lead at the half. The game was tied again halfway through the third before Colorado went on a spurt to keep the lead for good. UTA trimmed the lead to one with two minutes gone in the fourth, but gave up an 8-0 that was integral to the 11-point defeat.
The common themes to this point in the year, the team is inconsistent play. They give up runs, but can respond with some of their own. But there's also promise. Senior guard Nya Threatt was known to be the lynchpin of the offense. What I didn't think, and I'm not alone, was she'd be the leader in points. At 11.6, she is one of two in double digits and is the team leader. Freshman forward Kira Reynolds is the other with double digits at 10.8 points per game. She is one I'm watching closely with the hype Athletic Director Jon Fagg passed to me earlier this year.
Junior guard Jadyn Atchison has shown flashes. The transfer from Old Dominion has hit double digits in three games. In games the team has struggled, her point total has been on the shallow end of single digits. Senior guard Kali Haizlip has hit big shots and is contributing eight points a game.
Kira Reynolds' sister, Junior Mila Reynolds, a transfer from Maryland is third in scoring with 8.5 points a game. She's also been in double digits three times. Her first two games had a lower output and she has steadily improved, especially when adjusted for the opponent's difficulty.
I would like the offense to score more as a whole. They are at 61.5 points a game. They've been in the 50's four times and the 78-point outburst is the only real outlier. Wyoming's 64 was too, but by a basket.
Defensively, I have been happy for the most part. No team as eclipsed 80 on UTA and only two have gotten into the 70's. A little better scoring output, or more specifically a more consistent scoring output would alter the record.
Kira Reynolds leads the team in rebounds at nine per game. She has 44 on the defensive end and ten on the offensive. If the offensive number rises, so will the UTA overall points per game. Her rebounding number is also good for fourth in the WAC. She also has 19 blocks. That number is third in the WAC. Only California Baptist's Emma Johanssen, a Senior forward, is above Kira Reynolds in both categories.
Like the men's, free throwing shooting was a bit suspect at points last year, but that has been quite improved to this point in the season. As a team, the Mavericks are 93 of 126, good for a .738 percentage. It's been a while since I can remember a time UTA was ahead of its opponents a month into the season, but UTA has watched their opponents shoot .706. What has been an issue is UTA's opponents have gotten to the line 34 more times, or an average of over five more attempts per game.
The Mavs continue the North Shore Classic today against Texas A&M today at four pm. They close out their Hawaii trip against 3-2 Virginia Commonwealth tomorrow at 8:30 pm. It will be another tough test and my hope is UTA treats it like the Colorado game and keeps it competitive. If that happens, the Mavs will look like a contender in the WAC.
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