UT Arlington women search for turnaround at Corpus Christi

After starting the season 3-1, the UT Arlington women’s basketball team has dropped its last two and is looking to right the ship Saturday at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

The Mavericks (3-3) lost winnable games at home to UT San Antonio and at Kansas State before matching up with a young Islander team that gave UTA its first win of the season last year. Coach Krista Gerlich said this road trip would be a character building one.

“We were feeling good about ourselves after getting out to a 3-1 start,” Gerlich said. “Now we’ve got to see what we’re made out of, find out how to win on the road and keep taking steps toward our ultimate goals.”

The Mavs shot below 50 percent from the free-throw line in the loss to UTSA and committed 22 turnovers in their 45-41 loss at Kansas State, and those two facets of UTA’s game need to improve before Sun Belt Conference play begins at the end of the month.

Mavericks fans will remember last season’s 75-64 win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi, as UTA scored 26 straight points in the first half to get the team’s first win of the season after recording 10 straight losses to open the season. Senior Chaun Williams scored 14 points in that win and comes into this year’s game averaging nearly 10 a game.

Freshman center Rebekah Van Dijk leads the team, averaging 14 points and 11.5 rebounds per game after recording double-doubles in UTA’s last five games.

“Her play has really given us a lot of confidence,” Gerlich said. “And our seniors, especially Tahlia Pope, have done a great job of getting her the ball in the right spot.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2014 at 4:04 PM with the headline "UT Arlington women search for turnaround at Corpus Christi."