Hurst Bell grad among freshman catalysts for UT Arlington women

UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich’s freshmen aren’t playing like freshmen anymore. Gerlich’s first full recruiting class has been thrown into the fire this season, and heading into Thursday’s matchup against Appalachian State, the labor is starting to bear fruit on the court.

“After January, we told them that they’re not really freshmen anymore,” Gerlich said. “They’ve been in a lot of situations and have played so many minutes that now you’re starting to see them making better decisions and playing with more confidence.”

That rapid maturation was on full display in Saturday’s 63-46 win at South Alabama. Freshman guard and 2014 Star-Telegram high school player of the year Cierra Johnson filled the stat sheet with 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals, and Gerlich said the Hurst L.D. Bell product has stepped forward into more of a leadership role lately on this young team.

“It’s about having bringing a positive approach to every game and every practice, and Cierra in particular has done a lot of those things lately,” Gerlich said.

Appalachian State (11-12, 6-8 Sun Belt Conference) is the lone Sun Belt team that the Mavs (13-10, 7-7) have yet to square off against, but UTA has rattled off wins in four of its last five games after a stretch of six losses in the previous seven. Turning what has been a premiere Sun Belt defense into transition offense has fueled the run, as the Mavericks have held their last five opponents to an average of just 54.8 points per game.

The Mountaineers come into College Park Center losers of four of their last six games and feature the Sun Belt’s second-leading scorer in senior forward Mariah Sydnor (17.5 points, 8.9 rebounds per game), who returned to action in Saturday’s 55-54 win at Louisiana Monroe after missing the team’s previous four games.

Tipoff against Appalachian State is at 5 p.m.

This story was originally published February 18, 2015 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Hurst Bell grad among freshman catalysts for UT Arlington women."