The Southern Utah University women’s basketball team will head to Texas on a two-game road trip to take on the University of Texas at Arlington on Thursday, Feb. 1, at 6 p.m. and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Saturday, Feb. 3, at 2 p.m. Both games can be streamed on ESPN+.
UT Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington comes into Thursday’s matchup fourth in the Western Athletic Conference resume seeding with a record of 9-10 overall and 5-4 in conference play. Although UTA has a losing record, the Mavericks are 8-2 in their last 10 games. UT Arlington is coming off a blowout loss where they fell 70-35 to Grand Canyon University.
Junior guard Gia Adams leads the Mavericks in scoring, averaging 12.8 points per game on 42.5% shooting from the field. Senior forward Avery Brittingham has been a dominant force down low. Brittingham is tied with SUU forward Ava Uhrich for first in the WAC in double-doubles with six. She also leads UTA in steals with 35.
Texas Rio Grande Valley
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley enters this week 4-14 overall and 3-6 in conference play. In the WAC resume seeding, UTRGV sits at No. 9, one spot behind Southern Utah. After starting 0-10, the Vaqueros have gone 4-4 with three of their wins coming in conference play.
UTRGV ranks last in the WAC in scoring, averaging 59.9 points per game, and last in three-point shooting, averaging 27.3% from behind the arc. Junior guard Iyana Dorsey leads the Vaqueros in scoring with 14.1 points per game, but she is only shooting 29.3% from the field and 23.7% from three. As a team, UTRGV ranks first in the conference in free throw percentage, shooting 74.9% from the line.
Southern Utah
Southern Utah University heads to Texas with a record of 5-13 overall and 3-6 in the WAC. It has been a struggle for SUU the last two months, losing eight of their last 10. With 11 games remaining in the regular season, Southern Utah is in eighth place in the conference resume seeding.
Uhrich is averaging 13.9 points per game, including scoring double digits in 10 of her last 11 games. She also had a career-high 25 points against Abilene Christian University, which earned her WAC Newcomer of the Week. The struggle for the Thunderbirds has been the defense. SUU ranks No. 10 in the WAC in opponent scoring, field goal percentage and three-point shooting.
“I’m so impressed with this group and their drive to get in and work hard everyday,” said head coach Tracy Mason. “We have two important games this week, and right now we’re focusing on UTA and what we need to do to be successful.”
Southern Utah is 0-2 overall against Arlington and 5-0 against UTRGV all-time.
Author: Jack Paul
Photographer: Anden Garfield
Editor: Anden Garfield
sports@suunews.net
