UT Arlington women near top of Sun Belt after four-year climb

This is not the UT Arlington women’s basketball team of four or five years ago.

As the Mavericks prepare to play South Alabama at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinals, the progression in conference tourney seeding in Krista Gerlich’s four seasons as head coach is as good an indicator as any.

Her first year, having missed out on a big portion of the recruiting calendar, UTA did not qualify for the eight-team field in a four-win 2013-14 season. The next two years, the Mavs fell in the first round after finishing in the middle of the pack in the conference standings.

UTA (21-7, 14-4 Sun Belt Conference) took the big step forward this year, behind first-team All-Sun Belt center Rebekah VanDijk (15.8 points, 9.1 rebounds per game) and the Sun Belt defensive player of the year, Cierra Johnson, a Hurst L.D. Bell grad. Both should etch their names atop various columns in the Mavericks’ record books before their time is done at the end of next season, and UTA is all the better for it this year as the Sun Belt’s No. 2 seed.

“I’m excited about the progress we’ve made, not only this year, but the past four years,” Gerlich said. “Really pleased with the girls’ determination and focus to finish at the top of the conference. They had their sights set on the championship from the word ‘go.’ ”

Three wins, starting with Thursday’s game against 10th-seeded South Alabama (11-19, 5-13), would put the Mavericks in the NCAA Tournament, which hasn’t happened since 2006.

“South Alabama’s defense is pretty stout,” Gerlich said. “We’ll have to keep them from getting hot, because they’ve surprised a few people along the way.”

The Mavs’ 21 wins this year are already the program’s most since they won 22 in the 2008-09 season.

This story was originally published March 8, 2017 at 12:04 PM with the headline "UT Arlington women near top of Sun Belt after four-year climb."