MeanGreen61

HATTIESBURG — The revamped Conference USA men's basketball lineup has lost a lot of its punch and at least one coach isn't very happy about it. "The bottom guys have to catch up," said Memphis' John Calipari, whose Tigers are 13-2 and ranked fifth in The Associated Press Top 25 poll. "I think if you look at it, there is a real commitment to football in our league, but I'm not sure the commitment to basketball is there at all our schools, and this is a league that was put together for basketball. That commitment needs to be there." FULL ARTICLE http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll...347/1266/SPORTS

Brett Vito: Exciting start to season for UNT women 08:12 AM CST on Tuesday, January 10, 2006 Mian Williams hadn’t given the score much thought in the early stages of North Texas’ game against its chief rival for the Sun Belt Conference West Division title on Saturday. The scrappy little shooting guard just focused on what the Mean Green have quickly become know for this year – guarding everyone in sight. Williams fought and scratched and clawed. It wasn’t until just before the halftime buzzer when Williams snuck a peak to see how the Mean Green were faring against Louisiana-Lafayette. The senior was stunned by what she saw. “Right before the half, I looked and we had a 17-point lead,” Williams said. “They are a good team, but we got a lot out of all our players. We are still excited about it today.” That excitement is based on what UNT considers a statement that it will be a force to be reckoned with in the Sun Belt this season. UNT didn’t just beat UL-Lafayette, it pounded the Ragin’ Cajuns 70-47 at Earl K. Long Gym. UL-Lafayette had the nation’s fifth-longest home court winning streak at 22 games before running into the Mean Green. UNT had a few solid wins in non-conference play, including victories at home over UTEP and SMU of Conference USA and its first-ever win over Stephen F. Austin. A victory over UL-Lafayette was the biggest of the bunch because it sent a message to the rest of the Sun Belt that UNT is back to its form of a few years ago when the Mean Green went to the WNIT in 2000-01 and 2001-02. “I would hope this is a statement game for us,” UNT coach Tina Slinker said. “Those are the types of games that championship teams win. It’s not only what’s in your mind it’s what’s in their mind. Maybe if Western [Kentucky] and Middle [Tennessee] see the score from that game, they will think that we are pretty good.” It’s hard to imagine how anyone could come to another conclusion after the Mean Green dominated a game between the teams picked to finish at the top of the SBC West Division. UNT was the pick to win the division title over the defending champion Ragin’ Cajuns. Both UNT and UL-Lafayette came into the night with 11-2 records, and it was the Mean Green that dominated. UNT out-rebounded ULL 49-34, limited the Ragin’ Cajuns to 30 percent shooting from the field and gave up just 15 points in the first half. The outcome was all the more surprising because the Ragin’ Cajuns seemed to have every advantage heading into the night. UNT was not only playing in foreign territory, it also was without senior Erika Bobo for part of the night. The Mean Green’s second-leading scorer was sick and finished with six points in 24 minutes. UNT never missed a beat thanks to Sanetra Jackson. The freshman came in to score 10 points, grab six rebounds and help maintain UNT’s defense that is allowing an average of 57.6 points a game, a total that ranks third in the Sun Belt. “I told the players that that’s how far away we are from first place, and that’s a long ways away,” UL-Lafayette coach J. Kelley Hall told The Daily Advertiser of Lafayette, La., after the game. “It’s very disappointing. The game was between the two best teams in the Sun Belt, and we were not ready.” UNT’s win over UL-Lafayette pushed the Mean Green to 12-2, its best record though 14 games in school history. Two more wins and the Mean Green will match their win total from all of last season. Of the 20 Division I basketball teams in Texas, only defending national champion Baylor is off to a better start at 11-1. There is a chance UNT could quickly slide back down that list of the state’s most successful programs. Six of UNT’s last 13 games are on the road. Games with traditional Sun Belt powers MTSU and WKU still loom. The conference tournament will be played on MTSU’s home court in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The UNT men found that how quickly the tide can turn when they dropped a home game to New Orleans last week after upsetting the UL-Lafayette men, who are picked to win the SBC West. UNT is starting to look more and more like a team that will avoid that fate by following the example Williams set against UL-Lafayette. The Mean Green don’t plan on letting up until they can look up at the scoreboard and in the ledger at their record secure in the knowledge that they are among the Sun Belt’s elite. “We don’t want to get comfortable, we want to just keep getting better and continue to win,” junior post Mia Ajekwu said. “We definitely still feel that hunger.”

LINK http://sunbeltsportstv.nmnathletics.com/Vi...CRIBER_CONTENT= Danny: Have you thought of adding Texas State University and Missouri State University? I believe both may have aspirations to be 1-A in football. I believe they would be good additions because of geography and they could provide rivals for present members. I believe a lot of the conference realignments today have not factored in geographical considerations which can provide for rivalries. Presently you have UL-Lafayette/UL-Monroe, Fla Atlantic/Fla International, Troy/Middle Tennessee as rivals or developing rivalries. I believe Texas State could be a good rival for North Texas and Missouri state could be a good rival for Arkansas State. Having these additional schools in the Sunbelt Conference will provide for 9 conference games which will help foster the growth of your football program and obviate your need for "body bag" games. I applaud all your efforts in getting Sun Belt Football up and running and I wish you much future success! Commissioner Waters: Danny, there are two forces at work. We can survive very well as an 8-team football league. The other is we are a 13-team league for basketball. For us to take someone else into the conference, they would have to bring a bunch to the table, such as the ability to go deep in the basketball tournament or play in a BCS Bowl Game.

From the CUSA board. CUSA attendance averages 1. Memphis.......14270 2. UTEP..............8943 3. Tulsa..............5613 4. Houston..........5022 5. ECU................4938 6. UAB................4351 7. S. Miss............3236 8. Marshall..........3065 9. SMU................2900 10 Rice................2167 11 Tulane............1980 12 UCF................1369

One says WKU. One says Denver. Both say ONE Sun Belt team. Bracketography.com http://www.bracketography.com/ ESPN http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

A Bottom 10 without at least one Sun Belt team? Mind boggling http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/powerranking...d=3&season=2006

I'd guess that a lot of people are doin' a lot of guessin'

From official Sun Belt site MEN- Average attendance: 2,760 5,489 Western Kentucky 4,116 Middle Tennessee 3,780 UL-Lafayette 3,197 UALR 3.049 Arkansas State 2,929 South Alabama 2,580 Denver 1,685 North Texas 1,619 Troy 966 FIU 672 New Orleans WOMEN - Average attendance: 1,011 2,286 Middle Tennessee 2,229 Western Kentucky 2,011 Arkansas State 1,303 UALR 1,010 South Alabama 590 North Texas 579 Denver 430 FIU 377 Troy 307 UL-Lafayette 76 New Orleans

Southlake Carroll coach Todd Dodge (left), winner of three state titles in four years, is a relative bargain at $90,010 or $5,625.63 per victory. HS football coaches cashing in 04:23 PM CST on Sunday, January 8, 2006 By MATT JACOB / The Dallas Morning News For proof that football is the undisputed king of Texas high school sports, you need to look no further than what area school districts are paying head coaches. Their average salary is $82,179.16, and nearly half are paid at least twice what an average teacher makes. The Dallas Morning News asked 37 districts for the total compensation paid to 95 Class 5A and 4A head football coaches for the 2005-06 academic year. Average teacher salaries were obtained from the Texas Education Agency for 2004-05, the most recent data available. An analysis of the numbers led to some surprising findings. For instance, Southlake Carroll coach Todd Dodge, whose teams are 63-1 the last four years with three Class 5A state titles and two seasons that ended with mythical national championships, ranks No. 22 at $90,010. ARTICLE http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/...es.2a4475f.html

That would be about as effective as a message in a bottle.

North Texas halts UL win streak Showdown of league leaders goes Mean Green's way. Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com Saturday night at Earl K. Long Gym was strikingly similar to last Thursday night. The only problem was, the same Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns women's squad that dismantled visiting Denver 76-50 in its Sun Belt Conference opener was throttled in similar fashion by the North Texas Mean Green by an embarrassing 70-47 count. In a showdown of the teams with the best records in the league, North Texas controlled the contest from the start en route to a 12-2 record and a 2-0 start in league action. Louisiana saw its 22-game home win streak broken, falling to 11-3, 1-1 before 542 fans. "We need to understand that the target is on us," said coach J. Kelley Hall, whose Cajuns won the Sun Belt Western Division last season and reached the SBC Tournament finals. "People want to beat you. "We did not play like champions and did not deserve to win the game. They pretty much did to us what we did to Denver on Thursday night." The Cajuns hit just 19-of-62 shots and were out-rebounded 49-34. They didn't hit a 3-pointer until senior Ashley Blanche connected with 5:35 remaining in the game, and were 1-of-15 on treys. "You've got to give them credit," said Hall, who did not allow players access to the media after the game. "They physically took us out of everything we wanted to do." "Playing well early was one key for us," UNT coach Tina Slinker said. "They had 22 straight wins and had a lot of confidence playing here. We needed to have a good start. "I thought a second key was our bench play." "They have tremendous depth," Hall said. Yolanda Jones scored 18 of her game-high 20 points after halftime to lead the Cajuns, and also had 11 rebounds, while Blanche managed 14 points after returning from her grandmother's funeral in Houston earlier in the day. "Ashley was playing with a heavy heart," Hall said. "I told her I really appreciated her effort tonight. I have no problem with the way she played. That's not an easy thing, to play after burying someone you love. It hurt her to lose the game." In fact, Blanche was the only member of the current squad to experience a home loss before Saturday night. "We definitely felt Yolanda Jones was their best player," Slinker said. "She's a hard matchup, because she's really a '3' playing inside out. What she did late in the game was what we were afraid she would do all night. "They've got five players on the floor who can all score. We're usually better on the defensive end. A lot of teams throw a zone at them, but with our depth we were able to maintain man-to-man defense the whole game." "Going in, we wanted to stop their dribble-penetration, and make them shoot from the perimeter," Hall said. "They had been averaging 30 free throws a game, so we wanted to limit that. And, obviously, we needed to out-rebound them. We didn't do any of those things. "We had some good looks early and couldn't hit. When you hit 1-of-15 3's, have one assist, get out-rebounded by 15 and let them shoot 30 free throws, you've got no chance." It's a feeling Cajun opponents have known well, and one Hall's squad doesn't want to experience again.

Not recruiting. Early,early,early 2006 pre-season rankings and as usual the Sun Belt as a conference is last. Scroll down to bottom for conference rankings. http://www.jhowell.net/cf/cf2006.htm

We have that same rating with Howell http://www.jhowell.net/cf/cf2006.htm

You're right. You call them Louisiana and I'll call them UL-Lafayette, Louisiana-lafayette or ULL; the names used by the print media except for their local paper.

Where is Louisiana ? There's no school listed as playing 1A football by that name. There's Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette but no Louisiana.

BOWL GAME RANKINGS http://www.collegefootballnews.com/2005/Bo...owlRankings.htm GAME THOUGHTS http://www.collegefootballnews.com/2005/Bowls/Fiu_takes.htm Southern Miss 31 ... Arkansas State 19 New Orleans Bowl ... It wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been. Southern Miss showed from the opening drive that its offense could rumble at will on the Arkansas State defense, but there was clearly rust from the month-long layoff. Little mistakes like kickoffs out of bounds, to big things like a lost fumble at the one and a bad snap on a punt for a safety kept the Golden Eagles from pulling away, but ASU simply couldn't hold up on the defensive line and couldn't go on enough long, sustained drives with star RB Antonio Warren knocked out with an ankle injury. Indian QB Nick Noce carried the offense by himself keeping drives alive with his legs while showing no fear in bombing away deep on the USM corners; it was a great final performance to end his career on. Despite the double-digit loss, ASU represented itself well in a more entertaining game than it might appear in the box score.

Palastine ? My grandfathers place was south of Athens (Henderson County) off the Athens to Palastine road.

MUTS board thread on loss of Lake http://middletennessee.rivals.com/showmsg....37&sid=&style=2 MTSU's Lake quits as team heads to WKU By ADAM SPARKS sparks@dnj.com BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Entering its most anticipated game of the season tonight, MTSU will be without one of its rising stars. Redshirt freshman forward Brian Lake has quit the Blue Raiders' squad as the team heads to Western Kentucky for its Sun Belt opener at 7 p.m. "Brian Lake has chosen to quit our basketball team at Middle Tennessee," said MTSU coach Kermit Davis. "He said he has lost his desire to play. We wish Brian the best of luck." Lake, who leaves in good academic standing, could not be reached for comment. He had played in all 12 games this season, including four starts, while averaging 6.3 points and 3.4 rebounds per contest. Lake scored a career-high 17 points in a win over Florida Atlantic Dec. 21 and had actually made a recent progression, averaging eight points and shooting 57 percent from the field over the last four games. Lake was a Mr. Basketball finalist at Bolivar High School, where he led his team to a state title at the Murphy Center. He was named TSSAA Class AA state tournament MVP. However, he informed Davis that he was quitting the team Thursday and did not show up for practice Friday afternoon. Lake's departure adds adversity to MTSU heading into a face-off with the Hilltoppers. "This game always has the best atmosphere of any game we play, so we know what we're coming into," said MTSU junior center Kyle Young. "They've already played a (Sun Belt) game, but this is also their home (conference) opener, and they'll be waiting for us." MTSU (7-5) is coming off the second worst defeat during the Kermit Davis era, falling 83-50 to No. 4 Memphis Wednesday, while Western Kentucky (9-4, 1-0) narrowly escaped Arkansas State Thursday with a 72-70 win in both squads' Sun Belt opener. The Blue Raiders' top two concerns tonight will soon be shared by the rest of the league. WKU guards Courtney Lee (19.8 points) and Anthony Winchester (18.6) rank first and third in the conference in scoring, respectively, and should each be a candidate for Sun Belt Player of the Year. Davis knows containing the talented tandem is a must to beat the Hilltoppers. "Looking at Winchester and Lee, I just don't know who's going to guard them," Davis said. "(Marcus) Morrison, Bud (Howard), Fats (Cuyler)? I don't know. "That's a bad feeling, that we don't really have a defensive stopper." WKU, which leads the league in field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage, has already earned wins against UAB, Evansville and Virginia this season and enters tonight's game riding a three-game winning streak. WKU swept the two-game series last season by a combined seven points, beating the Blue Raiders 61-56 at Murfreesboro and winning 85-83 in overtime at home.

North Texas tests Cajuns Bruce Brown bbrown@theadvertiser.com Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. When the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun women won the Sun Belt Conference Western Division last season, the first such title in the history of the program, it meant coach J. Kelley Hall's team had used up its allowance of flying under the radar. This year, the Cajuns are operating with targets painted on their backs as they try to capture another title and eventually earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Thursday's 76-50 thrashing of Denver - the 22nd straight victory at home - showed the Cajuns are ready for league play, but they'll have to maintain that level at 7 p.m. tonight against North Texas at Earl K. Long Gym. Coach Tina Slinker's team is off to the best start in school history at 11-2 and is coming off a 62-33 hammering of New Orleans in its league opener. Two teams at 11-2, both 1-0 in Sun Belt play, make for a dramatic early-season pairing. "We talked after the Arkansas-Pine Bluff game (a lackluster 64-56 win on Dec. 30), and I don't think we were really focused coming off of exams," Hall said. "We were very focused in this past week of practice, and it showed against Denver. "We had four starters in double figures and we really spread the ball around. We were very unselfish. It was the best game we had all year." Senior point guard Ashley Blanche triggered that win, getting 13 of her 15 points by halftime as UL put the Pioneers away early. "I'm satisfied as long as we win," Blanche said. "My goal is to lead the team and not get too many turnovers. If I play badly and we win, I'm still happy. I was looking to have a good, solid game, and I think I did that." But Blanche is attending her grandmother's funeral in Houston today, and getting her back in time is a concern. With that in mind, Hall got Jeanenne Colbert onto the floor for 18 minutes on Thursday, and she responded with three points and three assists. "We're trying to play her back into shape," Hall said of Colbert, who was injured in a preseason auto accident. "She's only really had three hard practices, and she gets winded pretty quickly." Strong play at the point will be crucial against a North Texas team that has 145 steals in 13 games. Erika Bobo's 38 thefts lead a group of five Mean Green players in double digits for steals. "They start three seniors on the perimeter," Hall said. "They have four outstanding post players, and it doesn't matter who's in there. So they can afford 20 fouls right there. "They push the ball hard in transition and try to shoot the ball very close. They're averaging 17 offensive rebounds per game, so when they miss they pound the boards." The Cajuns dominated the boards against Denver, 45-22, getting 24 offensive rebounds. Sherita Anderson and Alicia McDaniel had 10 caroms apiece, while Anderson and Yolanda Jones each had 6 offensive boards. North Texas held UNO to 10-of-58 shooting (17.2 percent) from the floor on Thursday, in a game played at Westwego's Alario Center. The Mean Green out-rebounded the Privateers 55-45 and executed 11 steals. "I wasn't very pleased with the way we started the game, because I thought we came out flat," Slinker said. "But I was happy with the way our defense was able to take charge. "I'm pleased with this win, but I'm even more excited about our next game. I'm really anxious to see how we respond against (UL) Lafayette." Originally published January 7, 2006

Basketball: UNT squads look to extend torrid starts UNT women set for showdown with Lafayette 08:28 AM CST on Saturday, January 7, 2006 By Brett Vito / Staff Writer The North Texas men are right back in the same position they were last season after the first 12 games of the year. UNT picked up a few impressive non-conference wins, ran out to an 8-4 start and won its first game in Sun Belt Conference play. As far as UNT head coach Johnny Jones is concerned, that is about the only similarity last season’s team has to the current group that will head into a game at home against New Orleans today. The Mean Green failed to maintain their early momentum last year and finished 14-14 after falling in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tourna­ment. “Last year hasn’t come up much,” Jones said. “This is a new year for us. We have new guys and a new attitude. … I like how they come to work every day in practice and hold each other accountable so that we can get better. As long as we do that, we can guard against guys letting up and being satisfied. We haven’t seen any of that.” That approach has paid off for both UNT teams, which are looking to build on conference-opening wins on Thursday. The Mean Green women will take on Louisiana-Lafayette in their second Sun Belt game of the season on the road today. The UNT women will head into that game with an impressive 11-2 record after pounding New Orleans 62-33 in their Sun Belt opener. The 33 points UNT allowed were a school record. UNT head coach Tina Slinker said after that game that she was pleased with the way the Mean Green were able to take control of the game defensively and pick up a key win on the road. The Mean Green turned to their senior backcourt of Erika Bobo and Mian Williams to lead them past New Orleans. Bobo led UNT with 11 points, while Williams added 10. Williams is averaging 10.8 points a game, while Bobo is posting 10.2. UNT would like nothing better than to extend its quick start against UL-Lafayette, which is expected to be the Mean Green’s main competition for the Sun Belt West Division title. UNT was picked to win the division title in the preseason coaches poll, while the defending champion Ragin’ Cajuns were picked to finish second. “I’m pleased with this win, but I’m even more excited about our next game and I’m really anxious to see how we respond against Lafayette,” Slinker said. UL-Lafayette has been just as hot as UNT and is also 11-2 on the season following an impressive 76-50 win over Denver on Thursday. ULL has three players averaging double figures, including 6-1 junior forward Yolanda Jones, who is scoring 17.5 points per game. The UNT men do not appear to have as big a challenge pending in their game against a New Orleans team that has limped out to a 3-9 record and lost its best player for the season. Bo McCalebb, a junior guard who was a preseason first-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection, broke his wrist in a game against Mississippi State earlier this season and is out for the year. “We are still approaching the game like he is playing,” UNT junior guard Calvin Watson said. “These guys are capable of sneaking up on us. They are a very good team and are very disciplined.” Junior guard Wayne Williams is leading the Privateers with an average of 15.1 points per game. UNT will look to a balanced attack to help offset Williams and extend its four-game winning streak. Junior guard Kendrick Davis leads UNT with an average of 17.0 points a game and is one of three Mean Green players averaging double figures. Senior center Jeffrey Simpson and sophomore guard Michael Sturns are both posting 11.6 points per game. “We will be able to build off of our start,” UNT senior guard Isaac Hines said. “Everyone knows their role on this team. Our bench and our defense are also much better. We are just a better team this year.” BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com

SUMG this did come up. True or false ? I don't know, but there was suposedly some conflict between him & players.

North Texas -9 v New Orleans Western Kentucky -9 v MUTS Florida International -2 v Arkansas State South Alabama -10.5 v Troy Denver -3 v UL-Lafayette VEGAS ODDS http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-basket...s-vegas/?s=4378

Mean Green Wins Conference Opener Against Ragin' Cajuns Courtesy: University of North Texas Release: 01/05/2006 DENTON (1/5/06) – The North Texas men’s basketball team opened Sun Belt Conference play with an 86-79 victory against Louisiana-Lafayette on Thursday night in the Super Pit. The Mean Green (8-4, 1-0 Sun Belt) improved to 7-1 at home and 4-1 in Sun Belt openers under head coach Johnny Jones. The Ragin’ Cajuns (4-8, 0-1 Sun Belt) still lead the series, 13-7, and are 8-3 against the Mean Green as conference members. “This was a big win for our program,” said North Texas head coach Johnny Jones. “Louisiana-Lafayette was picked to win our division. We did a good job of defending the entire game. Michael Southall is a tough match-up for anybody.” The Ragin’ Cajuns cut an 11-point North Texas halftime lead to three points down the stretch, but the Mean Green made key free throws to hold onto the victory. Louisiana-Lafayette threatened after a dunk by Michael Southall brought the Ragin’ Cajuns within four points, 83-79, with 1:11 left in the game. On the ensuing North Texas possession, Calvin Watson brought down the rebound after a Kendrick Davis miss and Isaac Hines converted two free throws after being fouled. Davis tied a career high with 23 points to lead the Mean Green offense. Quincy Williams was two points shy of his third career double-double with eight points and 12 rebounds. Senior Jeffrey Simpson was two rebounds shy of a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds. Louisiana-Lafayette jumped out to an 11-3 lead before North Texas responded with five three-pointers from four different players to close the gap, 18-16. Davis hit his third three-pointer to tie the game, 30-30, for the first time. Sophomore Michael Sturns stole the ball on the next possession and converted with a three-point play after being fouled to give North Texas its first lead, 33-30, with 6:18 left in the first half. The Mean Green extended its halftime lead to as many as 13 points, 54-41 and 61-48, before the Ragin’ Cajuns cut the lead to three points, twice. UL Lafayette’s Ed Turner hit a three-pointer with 10:19 left in the game to put the score at 67-64 and then a layup by Southall, 78-75, with 3:20 on the clock. Southall recorded a triple-double in the game with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 blocks. UL-Lafayette held the edge in blocks, 17-2. Six of NT’s final eight points were from the free throw line. The Mean Green posted a season high in free-throw percentage (77.4), converting 24 of 31 shots. North Texas also held the edge in rebounds, 44-35. “I was pleased with our team’s poise,” said Jones. “Louisiana-Lafayette made a run at us, but we remained focused and were able to hold them off. We made big free throws when we needed to and continued to rebound the ball well.” The North Texas bench scored 31 points, including 11 from Sturns. Louisiana-Lafayette, on the other hand, got only two points from its bench. Four of the five Ragin’ Cajuns starters recorded points in double figures. The Mean Green continues its homestand with a Saturday night match-up against New Orleans at 7 pm in the Super Pit.

Ladys run over New Orleans. Road win ! Mean Green Hammer Privateers 62-33 In Sun Belt Opener Courtesy: University of North Texas Release: 01/05/2006 WESTWEGO, La. (1/5/06) – A stifling defense powered the North Texas women’s basketball team past the New Orleans Privateers and to their fourth straight win 62-33 from the Alario Center. The 33 points allowed by North Texas (11-2, 1-0) is a school record for fewest points allowed in a game, breaking the previous record of 34 set on January 24, 2002. “I wasn’t very pleased with the way that we started the game because I thought that we came out flat, but I was happy with the way our defense was able to take charge of the game for us” said North Texas head coach Tina Slinker. Leading 24-18 with three minutes left in the first half, North Texas closed with an 8-0 run capped off by Erika Bobo’s half court shot at the buzzer to give the Mean Green a 32-18 lead at the half. Bobo’s heroics were set when Mian Williams pulled down a rebound with five seconds left and found Bobo who raced up the floor and drilled the shot as the horn was sounding. North Texas extended their lead to 49-26 eight minutes into the second half and never looked back. The Mean Green defense then flexed its muscle, holding the Privateers (2-11, 0-1) scoreless for the next 10:39 and opening up a 33 point lead at 61-28. North Texas held the Privateers to 17 percent shooting for the game and forced 20 turnovers. Bobo led North Texas with 11 points and Williams reached double figures with 10 points for the fourth straight game. “I’m pleased with this win but I’m even more excited about our next game and I’m really anxious to see how we respond against Lafayette” Slinker said. The Mean Green will face Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday in a showdown between the top two teams in the Sun Belt Conference West Division.

Women's basketball: Trio leads UNT into SBC play 08:48 AM CST on Thursday, January 5, 2006 By Brett Vito / Staff Writer When they arrived nearly four years ago, North Texas’ trio of freshmen guards harbored dreams of making a run at the Sun Belt Conference title and maybe even the NCAA Tournament. Three and a half seasons later, Erika Bobo, Mian Williams and Natalie Mireles appear to be on course as they prepare to open their final Sun Belt season today with a game at New Orleans (2-10). UNT is off to its best start in school history at 10-2 and is living up to the expectations set when the Mean Green were picked to win the Sun Belt’s West Division title in the league’s preseason coaches poll. There are several reasons behind UNT’s early charge, including a solid frontcourt and a host of impact newcomers. UNT coach Tina Slinker counts the play of her veteran backcourt among the most important of those factors. “I feel like those three are doing what they should be doing as seniors, which is playing consistently,” Slinker said. “They are getting the most out of themselves as far as being complete players.” The difference in the trio’s performance isn’t evident in the number of points it scores. The three averaged 25.2 points a game last year and are posting the exact same number this season. The change can best be seen in their efficiency. Bobo, Williams and Mireles have improved their combined shooting percentage from 32 to 40 percent over last season and have cut the number of turnovers they commit per game from 8.1 to 6.7. The totals are all the more impressive considering UNT has faced Boston College and Texas, which are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, during its first 12 games. “We complement each other,” Williams said. “After being together for four years, we have learned how to read each other. You get that camaraderie after you play together for so long.” That familiarity has helped each player in the trio improve her performance in some aspect in the first half of the season. Williams leads the team with an average of 10.8 points a game, which is more than three points better than her average last season. Mireles has cut the number of turnovers she commits per game from 2.6 to 1.2 while Bobo has upped her rebounding average from 5.4 to 6.2. The statistical improvement each player has made is just one indication of her impact. “All three of them are calm and confident,” Slinker said. “That allows our bench to come in and provide more because you have consistent seniors on the floor. I can plug in one younger player and we are still solid.” The experience the trio provides has made a big difference for UNT, which has posted a series of impressive non-conference wins. UNT drubbed SMU 84-69, beat Stephen F. Austin for the first time in the 26-game series between the teams and also knocked off UTEP. UNT’s start has put the Mean Green in position to make a run at the 20-win plateau during what Slinker expects will be a tight race for the Sun Belt West Division title in the last two months of the season. Louisiana-Lafayette won the division title last season and has kept pace with UNT during non-conference play posting a 10-2 record as well. Denver (6-5) has won five of its last six games. “The league is pretty solid,” Slinker said. “Lafayette has the same record we do and you can’t count Denver out. There is a lot of parity.” UNT appears to have its best chance in several seasons of emerging from what appears to be an evenly matched group of teams in the Sun Belt to win the division title. The opportunity is one the Mean Green’s veteran backcourt is hungry to capitalize on after three tough years that saw UNT finish under .500 twice before bouncing back to post a 14-14 record last year. “We have been waiting four years for this,” Mireles said. “We all have positive attitudes about the end of the year and where we can be at conference tournament time.”