WBB: UT Arlington Lady Mavericks Preview
The Lady Mavs overcame a midseason five game losing streak to not only reach last year's WAC tournament final but put quite the scare into champion GCU before falling and winning a game in the WNIT...
UT Arlington was about as close as a team could come to knocking off GCU in last March’s WAC tournament championship game at Orleans Arena without accomplishing the feat. The Lady Mavs then led from tip to horn against UIW in an opening round WNIT win before falling at North Texas in round two. With Avery Brittingham, Koi Love, and Taliyah Clark having graduated head coach Shereka Wright will need to find most of a new starting five to join the veteran Nya Threatt.
Head Coach:
Shereka Wright (6th season)
Career Record:
82-62 overall, 51-33 conference
Last Year:
18-14, 10-6 WAC (T2 regular season, lost in WAC tournament championship game to GCU, lost in 2nd round of WNIT at North Texas)
Returners:
5
Alexsyah Goudeau- Was one of nine Lady Mavs to enter at least 30 games a season ago. Scored a season-high 11 points twice in WAC play and was perfect (3-3) from 3-point distance in a February 1 win against Utah Tech.
Kali Haizlip- Made 29 appearances last season and was perfect from the floor in a February 8 win against Seattle U (4-4) where she scored 10 points.
Miraya Perkins- One of the group who made at least 30 appearances a season ago. Scored a season-high 11 points twice, against Utah Tech in January and against UIW in the WNIT opener. Shot nearly 50 percent from the field.
Kendal Robinson- A member of the all-WAC freshman team who had a pair of double-digit scoring performances against UTSA and Houston before Christmas and added an 11 point effort against Tarleton State which ended up being her season high.
Nya Threatt- Was third in assists last season for the Lady Mavs and will be counted on to do a bulk of the ball handling in 2025-2026 along with upping her scoring. Finished with five double-digit scoring games in WAC play, including an 18 point performance against Utah Tech to start February.
Newcomers:
9
Jadyn Atchison- A Texas native who Wright brought home after spending time at Colorado and Old Dominion. Scored seven points against Arkansas State (an NCAA tournament team) in mid-February.
Natasha Barnes- Had previous Division I experience at Missouri State but spent last season at Pearl River Community College in Mississippi, earning second-team all-MACCC honors while averaging 8.1 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 13.0 minutes per contest.
Laura Bello- Missed her first season at UT Arlington due to injury. While at Idaho State as a sophomore she earned all-Big Sky Honorable Mention accolades, averaging 11.3 points and 9.6 rebounds a game with a 30 point effort against Portland State in March 2024. Was the Big Sky’s top rebounder that year and finished 51st in total rebounds, 34th in rebounding per game.
Laya Hartman- Spent four years at Northwestern before taking a year off to attend film school at NYU. Shot just under 39 percent in 2021-2022 (29 of 75) and scored in double-digits 10 times that year.
Amiyah Reynolds- Started eight games and appeared in 23 while at Purdue last year as a redshirt freshman. Had seven rebounds against the Lady Mavs in coach Wright’s return to Mackey Arena and six assists against Indiana State.
Kira Reynolds- An incoming freshman ranked fourth in Indiana who is the first student-athlete, male or female, to record a quintuple-double in the state of Indiana when she finished with 14 points, 18 rebounds, 12 assists, 11 steals and 10 blocks in a contest against New Prairie on January 4. Also left HS with the Indiana HS record for blocked shots, regardless of gender.
Mila Reynolds- Entered 22 games for a Maryland team that reached the Elite Eight in 2023 before going to Purdue where she helped Purdue reach the 2024 WNIT, averaging 7.0 points a game in that run.
Jeanne Rodriguez- A Salt Lake Community College transfer who earned First Team All-Scenic West honors last season averaging 7.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 19.8 minutes per contest across 32 games (14 starts) while shooting an impressive 93-of-158 (.589) from the floor. Made 14 starts and entered 32 games.
Erin Sellers- Spent two years at Menlo College where she appeared in five games as part of the program’s 2024 run to the NAIA’s Final 16 in Sioux City, Iowa.
Outlook:
In talking to Wright for a recent episode of the Straight Outta WAC Podcast she really likes the size and versatility this team has. She also likes the fact that a true core was able to return while the program adds eight new faces.
Kali Haizlip, according to Wright, will be expected to pick up a portion of the 3-point shooting vacated with Clark’s graduation.
Wright also labeled Kendall Robinson, an all-WAC Freshman Team selection last year, as the team’s X-Factor, saying “She’s really separated herself just by the way she takes coaching and hasn’t peaked yet.”
In terms of the Lady Mavs newcomers Laura Bello comes with Division I experience, having spent time at Idaho State, and earned all-Big Sky accolades while in Pocatello.
Amiyah and Mila Reynolds, along with Jadyn Atchison, each come to Arlington with Power 5 experience and at least based on past WAC history should be able to make an impact early on.
Scheduling Tidbits:
Wright likes to challenge her teams in the non-conference and this year’s slate is no different.
For the first time in recent Lady Mavs history the schedule does not, as of now, feature a non-Division I opponent.
It also features a pair of power conference matchups with trips to Houston and LSU to bookend non-conference play. The Lady Mavs have won four straight games against Houston but they’ll face a Cougars side led by Matthew Mitchell, the former Kentucky coach who made three Elite Eights and five Sweet Sixteens while in Lexington. Meanwhile, the Lady Mavs will play LSU and Kim Mulkey for the first time since 1978.
There’s also a pre-Thanksgiving trip to Hawaii for three games as part of the North Shore Showcase as well as games with Southland Conference regular season runner-up Lamar and Missouri Valley regular season co-champion Missouri State.
To start WAC play the Lady Mavs will play three of their first four away from College Park Center with trips to Tarleton State, CBU and ACU. They’ll host Southern Utah in the middle of that stretch.
Hopefully, the Lady Mavs will be greeted by a warm and sunny Southern California on that trip because their last two trips to Riverside were cold and rainy.
After a three-game road trip to finish January the Lady Mavs will close with six of nine at home. In that stretch are two matchups against ACU, Utah Tech, Utah Valley, CBU, and Tarleton State.
The Lady Mavs will play also Utah Valley twice in 14 days during the month of February.