The UT Arlington Mavericks women's wheelchair basketball team, commonly known as the Lady Movin' Mavs, is the women's college wheelchair basketball team representing the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Established in 2013, the team plays under the auspices of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA). It has been coached by Jason Nelms since its establishment.
The Lady Movin' Mavs have won two National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament (NIWBT) national championships, in 2016 and 2018. Two of its players, Abby Dunkin and Rose Hollermann, have played for the United States Paralympic wheelchair basketball team. Two additional players of international note who have played for the Lady Movin' Mavs are Australian Annabelle Lindsay and Canadian Élodie Tessier.
The Lady Movin' Mavs were established in 2013. [1] [2] Jason Nelms was named its head coach. He previously played as a member of UTA's men's wheelchair basketball team, the Movin' Mavs, from 2000 to 2005 and also competed in three Paralympic Games. [3] During its inaugural 2013–14 season, the team had no substitute players, instead playing all five of its players for the full 40 minutes of each game. [2] [4] The Lady Movin' Mavs played their first games against the University of Alabama and University of Illinois during a tournament in late October 2013. [3] They also played in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Tournament (NWBAT) in their first season, but were disqualified because one of their players fell sick before the tournament and the team could not field a five-player lineup. [5] In April 2014, the team signed Rose Hollermann and Josie Aslakson in its first recruiting class. [6]
The Lady Movin' Mavs were initially a sports club at UTA and transitioned to full intercollegiate team status once sufficient funds had been raised. [7] It plays under the auspices of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA), which organizes intercollegiate wheelchair basketball tournaments across the United States. During the 2014–15 season, the team's roster grew from five to nine players, which allowed the team greater flexibility with strategy and opportunities to rest players. [8] That season, the team played in the National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament (NIWBT), where it lost to the University of Illinois in its first game and then lost to the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater in the third-place game. [9]
During the 2015–16 season, just the third season in the team's existence, it won its first national championship by beating the University of Alabama and then the University of Illinois in the NIWBT. [10] [11] The Lady Movin' Mavs finished with a 19–5 record on the season. [10] That summer, it also had its first two players make the United States Paralympic wheelchair basketball team roster for the 2016 Summer Paralympics: Abby Dunkin and Rose Hollermann. [12]
The Lady Movin' Mavs finished the 2016–17 season with a 57–48 loss to the University of Alabama in the championship game of the NIWBT after they beat the University of Illinois 68–19 in their first-round game. [13]
During the 2017–18 season, the Lady Movin' Mavs recorded a perfect 20–0 season record. The team defeated the University of Alabama 65–55 in the NIWBT championship game to win its second national title. It was led by the play of veterans Dunkin, Hollermann, and Morgan Wood as well as Australian freshman Annabelle Lindsay. [14]
The Lady Movin' Mavs finished the 2018–19 season with an 82–76 overtime loss to the University of Alabama in the championship game of the NIWBT. [15] In 2019, the team added Canadian freshman Élodie Tessier to its roster. [1]
As of 2019, the Lady Movin' Mavs are one of only five women's college wheelchair basketball teams in the country, along with the University of Alabama, the University of Arizona, the University of Illinois, and the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. [7]
Player | Hometown | Major |
---|---|---|
Elizabeth Becker | Charlotte, North Carolina | Broadcasting |
Victoria Ceballos | Brownsville, Texas | Exercise Physiology |
Alexus Cook | San Antonio, Texas | Criminal Justice / Psychology |
Jayna Doll | Camrose, Alberta | Theatre Arts |
Meagan Lotz | Redmond, Washington | Aerospace Engineering |
Denise Rodriguez | Richardson, Texas | Social Work |
Élodie Tessier | Saint-Germain-de Grantham, Quebec | International Business |
Zoe Voris | Chicago, Illinois | Fine Arts |
Angelina Elise Welfle | Fort Wayne, Indiana | Public Relations |
Jason Nelms has been the head coach of the Lady Movin' Mavs since the establishment of the team in 2013. He is a UTA alumnus and a former member of the Movin' Mavs men's wheelchair basketball team. [3]
Season | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jason Nelms ()(2013–present) | |||||||||
2013–2014 | Nelms | NWBAT Disqualified | |||||||
2014–2015 | Nelms | NIWBT Fourth Place | |||||||
2015–2016 | Nelms | 19–5 | NIWBT Champion | ||||||
2016–2017 | Nelms | NIWBT Runner-Up | |||||||
2017–2018 | Nelms | 20–0 | NIWBT Champion | ||||||
2018–2019 | Nelms | NIWBT Runner-Up | |||||||
2019–2020 | Nelms | Tournament canceled | |||||||
2020–2021 | Nelms | NIWBT Runner-Up | |||||||
Total: | |||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion |
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The history of the University of Texas at Arlington began with the foundation of Arlington College in 1895, which was the first of a series of private schools to exist on the site of the present university. Created largely due to the underfunded and generally inadequate public schools in the city, it closed in July 1902 after Arlington voters passed a proposition to create an independent school district. Carlisle Military Academy was established on the same site by Colonel James M. Carlisle in 1902. It was molded by Carlisle's educational philosophy, which balanced intellectualism with military training. Carlisle's financial problems resulted in the school entering receivership in 1911, and in 1913 the school closed. In September 1913, Arlington Training School was founded by H. K. Taylor. The school was beset by financial troubles and lawsuits, ultimately closing after the 1915–16 academic year. In 1916, Arlington Military Academy was founded by John B. Dodson, and it lasted for only one academic year.
The United States women's national wheelchair basketball team began in the mid-1960s. The first women's team to compete alongside men in the Paralympic Games was in the inaugural 1968 tournament. A few years later in 1977, a women's wheelchair basketball division was created in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA).
In April 1965, the Texas Legislature transferred Arlington State College (ASC) from the Texas A&M University System to the University of Texas System. The following year, Maxwell Scarlett was the first African-American graduate in ASC history. In March 1967, ASC was renamed the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Jack Woolf, president of ASC and UTA since 1959, resigned in 1968 and was succeeded by Frank Harrison; Harrison was president until 1972. UTA awarded its first master's degrees in 1968, all in engineering. Reby Cary, the university's first African-American administrator, was hired the following year.
The UT Arlington Mavericks men's wheelchair basketball team, commonly known as the Movin' Mavs and previously known as the UTA Freewheelers, is the men's college wheelchair basketball team representing the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Established in 1976 as the UTA Freewheelers, the team played at the club level against other colleges and universities in Texas during the 1970s and 1980s. It has played under the auspices of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) since 1988, when the team was renamed the Movin' Mavs. Its inaugural coach, from 1976 until 2008, was Jim Hayes. Since 2008, the team has been coached by Doug Garner.