BabHorn
10,000+ Posts
The UT-Arlington Mavericks come into Austin Tuesday (01/05/10) with a 5-7 record and 0-2 against Big 12 teams. But Coach Morrow is looking at winning a game against a Big 12 team and this game will be her team’s last chance this season to accomplish that goal. The last time these two teams played, Texas won 76-60 with Brit’s 16 pts leading the way. Earnie, Kat & Kristen also played in that 11/29/07 game which was played in Austin. This is the 11th time the teams have met since 1977 with the Horns holding a 10-0 edge.
UTA was picked to finish second in the Southland Conference by both coaches and SID polls. Tamara Simmons [#20, 5-7 Jr. G] was picked to the preseason 1st team SLC while teammate Shalyn Martin [#32, 5-11 Jr. G/F]was named to the 2nd team. Martin, Kiarra Shofner [#1, 5-6 Sr. G], and Meghan Nelson [#14, Sr. 5-8 G] have started all 12 games for the Mavericks this season. Simmons has started 11 of 12, including the first ten before starting the last game again. Veronica Mergerson [#24. 6-1 RS Fr. F] has started 9 games, including the last 8. She is the sister of former Longhorn Mariana Mergerson. Coach Morrow has 12 players on the roster and plays essentially an 8 player rotation with the other four averaging less than 9 mpg.
Nelson is the top offensive threat for the Mavericks, averaging 15.6 ppg, and hitting 71of 145 FGs attempted, tops on the team in both categories. She is hitting 49% of her FGs. She is also topn in steals with 17 for the season. Simmons [17-49, 34.7%]; Martin [15-43,34.9%]; and LaTosha Duffey [#23, 5-8 Sr. G; 11-28, 39.3%] are the top 3pt threats for UTA. Martin (11.9 ppg) and Simmons (11.1 ppg) provide scoring support for Nelson. Mergerson is the top rebounder at 5.5 rpg. UTA moves the ball around well, with 6 players having at least 10 assists. Shofner (26 assists) and Simmons (20 assists) top the team. They depend on the guards quickness to create TOs and to set up shots but are TO prone as they are averaging 20.7 TOs a game while forcing 21.7 from opponents. Mergerson at 6-1 is the tallest player on the roster with everyone else 5-11 or smaller. The Horns will have a significant height advantage overall.
Horns are led in scoring by Brit [14.9] and Kat [13.8].Four others are averaging between 9.3 and 6.5 ppg. Kat [7.5] and Ashley [7.2] are tops in rebounding. Brit is getting to the FT line the most, having hit 43 of 55 for 78.2%. That tops the team in FTs made and attempted while her % is second on the team for players taking at least 10 FTs. Kat’s 82.8% (24-29) tops the team in FT % in the same category. Every player that plays wing or G for the Horns (that’s seven) has taken a three. Lauren with 3 attempts is the only one with less than 16 3s attempted. Erika [23-73, 31.5%], Kat [32-57, 56.1%] and Brit[15-44, 34.1%] continue to be the main threats from BTA. Before the UPB game, Kat was 14th nationally percentage wise with 20 of 40 threes for 50%. Her current % of 56.1 would have placed her fourth in that week’s rankings. For Big 12 stats through this past Saturday, Kat tops the Big 12 in 3pt % at 56.1% and is sixth in number of 3s made per game at 2.46. Ashley has 41 blocks for the year and is averaging 3.15 bpg. Four players have at least 15 steals for the year, led by Ashleigh’s 20. Seven players have at least 15 assists with three having at least 36. Ashleigh also tops this category with 43.
Projected starters and I do mean projected as both coaches have tinkered with different starting lineups during pre conference games:
[pre]Texas UTA
Erika Shofner
Brit Nelson
Kat Martin
Earnie Simmons
Ashley Mergerson[/pre]
This should be a tougher game than the last one. But the Horns should be too tall, too quick, and too deep for the UTA Mavericks. As in the last game, staying focused should be key in winning this game and not struggling with a decent opponent. UTA will be looking to pull off an upset as their big win before conference play.
[pre]TEAM STATISTICS UT UTA
--------------------------------------------------
SCORING................. 1013 755
Points per game....... 77.9 62.9
Scoring margin........ +13.5 -6.3
FIELD GOALS-ATT......... 372-850 268-728
Field goal pct........ .438 .368
FGs made per game..... 28.6 22.3
2 POINT FG-ATT........... 280-606 207-525
Field goal pct....... .462 .394
2-pt FG made per game. 21.5 17.2
3 POINT FG-ATT.......... 92-244 61-203
3-point FG pct........ .377 .300
3-pt FG made per game. 7.1 5.1
FREE THROWS-ATT......... 177-263 158-232
Free throw pct........ .673 .681
F-Throws made per game 13.6 13.2
REBOUNDS................ 575 491
Rebounds per game..... 44.2 40.9
Rebounding margin..... +6.6 +0.2
ASSISTS................. 199 119
Assists per game...... 15.3 9.9
TURNOVERS............... 231 248
Turnovers per game.... 17.8 20.7
Turnover margin....... +1.5 +1.0
Assist/turnover ratio. 0.8 0.5
STEALS.................. 114 103
Steals per game....... 8.8 8.6
BLOCKS.................. 84 33
Blocks per game....... 6.5 2.8
ATTENDANCE.............. 25619 1640
Home games-Avg/Game... 5-4270 3-547
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT Total
------------------------- ---- ---- -- -----
Texas.................... 484(37.2) 529(40.7) -00 1013(77.9)
UT Arlington............. 354(29.5) 394(32.8) -07(0.6) 755(62.9)[/pre]
Horns should close out the six games since Tenn with a 6-0 record to enter Big 12 play at 11-3. Strange to see the Horns currently sitting in 10th place in the Big 12 based on winning percentage with a 10-3 record. Every team in the Big 12 has a winning record with KSU’s 8-6 the worst overall. This game should provide the Horns with another great opportunity to fine tune their play as the Aggies loom next Saturday. Dominance inside should be a focus of the UT post players as they will have a big size advantage. Once again, this should lead to a big advantage in points in the paint, fast break points, second chance points and rebounding. Look for Ashley and Cokie to attend a block party. Gotta love the fact that the Horns seem to have avoided the stumble they had last season coming back from Christmas break. Instead, they seem to be getting better.
The men will be playing Arkansas at 6 pm, an hour before the women play UTA at 7pm. The KVET 1300 AM schedule online shows that they are carrying the men’s game. So maybe, KVET 98.1 FM will be carrying the women’s game in the Austin area.
UTA was picked to finish second in the Southland Conference by both coaches and SID polls. Tamara Simmons [#20, 5-7 Jr. G] was picked to the preseason 1st team SLC while teammate Shalyn Martin [#32, 5-11 Jr. G/F]was named to the 2nd team. Martin, Kiarra Shofner [#1, 5-6 Sr. G], and Meghan Nelson [#14, Sr. 5-8 G] have started all 12 games for the Mavericks this season. Simmons has started 11 of 12, including the first ten before starting the last game again. Veronica Mergerson [#24. 6-1 RS Fr. F] has started 9 games, including the last 8. She is the sister of former Longhorn Mariana Mergerson. Coach Morrow has 12 players on the roster and plays essentially an 8 player rotation with the other four averaging less than 9 mpg.
Nelson is the top offensive threat for the Mavericks, averaging 15.6 ppg, and hitting 71of 145 FGs attempted, tops on the team in both categories. She is hitting 49% of her FGs. She is also topn in steals with 17 for the season. Simmons [17-49, 34.7%]; Martin [15-43,34.9%]; and LaTosha Duffey [#23, 5-8 Sr. G; 11-28, 39.3%] are the top 3pt threats for UTA. Martin (11.9 ppg) and Simmons (11.1 ppg) provide scoring support for Nelson. Mergerson is the top rebounder at 5.5 rpg. UTA moves the ball around well, with 6 players having at least 10 assists. Shofner (26 assists) and Simmons (20 assists) top the team. They depend on the guards quickness to create TOs and to set up shots but are TO prone as they are averaging 20.7 TOs a game while forcing 21.7 from opponents. Mergerson at 6-1 is the tallest player on the roster with everyone else 5-11 or smaller. The Horns will have a significant height advantage overall.
Horns are led in scoring by Brit [14.9] and Kat [13.8].Four others are averaging between 9.3 and 6.5 ppg. Kat [7.5] and Ashley [7.2] are tops in rebounding. Brit is getting to the FT line the most, having hit 43 of 55 for 78.2%. That tops the team in FTs made and attempted while her % is second on the team for players taking at least 10 FTs. Kat’s 82.8% (24-29) tops the team in FT % in the same category. Every player that plays wing or G for the Horns (that’s seven) has taken a three. Lauren with 3 attempts is the only one with less than 16 3s attempted. Erika [23-73, 31.5%], Kat [32-57, 56.1%] and Brit[15-44, 34.1%] continue to be the main threats from BTA. Before the UPB game, Kat was 14th nationally percentage wise with 20 of 40 threes for 50%. Her current % of 56.1 would have placed her fourth in that week’s rankings. For Big 12 stats through this past Saturday, Kat tops the Big 12 in 3pt % at 56.1% and is sixth in number of 3s made per game at 2.46. Ashley has 41 blocks for the year and is averaging 3.15 bpg. Four players have at least 15 steals for the year, led by Ashleigh’s 20. Seven players have at least 15 assists with three having at least 36. Ashleigh also tops this category with 43.
Projected starters and I do mean projected as both coaches have tinkered with different starting lineups during pre conference games:
[pre]Texas UTA
Erika Shofner
Brit Nelson
Kat Martin
Earnie Simmons
Ashley Mergerson[/pre]
This should be a tougher game than the last one. But the Horns should be too tall, too quick, and too deep for the UTA Mavericks. As in the last game, staying focused should be key in winning this game and not struggling with a decent opponent. UTA will be looking to pull off an upset as their big win before conference play.
[pre]TEAM STATISTICS UT UTA
--------------------------------------------------
SCORING................. 1013 755
Points per game....... 77.9 62.9
Scoring margin........ +13.5 -6.3
FIELD GOALS-ATT......... 372-850 268-728
Field goal pct........ .438 .368
FGs made per game..... 28.6 22.3
2 POINT FG-ATT........... 280-606 207-525
Field goal pct....... .462 .394
2-pt FG made per game. 21.5 17.2
3 POINT FG-ATT.......... 92-244 61-203
3-point FG pct........ .377 .300
3-pt FG made per game. 7.1 5.1
FREE THROWS-ATT......... 177-263 158-232
Free throw pct........ .673 .681
F-Throws made per game 13.6 13.2
REBOUNDS................ 575 491
Rebounds per game..... 44.2 40.9
Rebounding margin..... +6.6 +0.2
ASSISTS................. 199 119
Assists per game...... 15.3 9.9
TURNOVERS............... 231 248
Turnovers per game.... 17.8 20.7
Turnover margin....... +1.5 +1.0
Assist/turnover ratio. 0.8 0.5
STEALS.................. 114 103
Steals per game....... 8.8 8.6
BLOCKS.................. 84 33
Blocks per game....... 6.5 2.8
ATTENDANCE.............. 25619 1640
Home games-Avg/Game... 5-4270 3-547
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT Total
------------------------- ---- ---- -- -----
Texas.................... 484(37.2) 529(40.7) -00 1013(77.9)
UT Arlington............. 354(29.5) 394(32.8) -07(0.6) 755(62.9)[/pre]
Horns should close out the six games since Tenn with a 6-0 record to enter Big 12 play at 11-3. Strange to see the Horns currently sitting in 10th place in the Big 12 based on winning percentage with a 10-3 record. Every team in the Big 12 has a winning record with KSU’s 8-6 the worst overall. This game should provide the Horns with another great opportunity to fine tune their play as the Aggies loom next Saturday. Dominance inside should be a focus of the UT post players as they will have a big size advantage. Once again, this should lead to a big advantage in points in the paint, fast break points, second chance points and rebounding. Look for Ashley and Cokie to attend a block party. Gotta love the fact that the Horns seem to have avoided the stumble they had last season coming back from Christmas break. Instead, they seem to be getting better.
The men will be playing Arkansas at 6 pm, an hour before the women play UTA at 7pm. The KVET 1300 AM schedule online shows that they are carrying the men’s game. So maybe, KVET 98.1 FM will be carrying the women’s game in the Austin area.
