DRC NT women start key series at home

[OldTimer]

UNT women start key series at Super Pit

01:29 AM CST on Saturday, February 14, 2004

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

The chance the North Texas women's basketball team has waited an entire season for arrives tonight.

The Lady Eagles played seven of their first 10 Sun Belt Conference games on the road. UNT's schedule will balance out when the Lady Eagles play their final five games of the regular season at home.

UNT will begin the stretch run of its season with a 7 p.m. game against Western Kentucky at the Super Pit.

"We need to take advantage of this stretch," UNT coach Tina Slinker said. "We are the only team in the conference with five games at home at the end of the season."

UNT (9-13, 5-5) enters the series tied for second place in the Sun Belt's West Division. The Lady Eagles have a chance to make a run up the standings to secure a berth in the conference tournament, but could also fall out of contention quickly, during the next two weeks.

The top two teams in each division of the Sun Belt, plus the teams with the next four best conference records will make the league's postseason tournament on March 6-9 in Bowling Green, Ky.

Western Kentucky (12-11, 6-3) is the only team UNT will face during its next five games that it has not already played on the road this season. The Lady Eagles have beaten two of the teams it will face during its season-ending run. All four games were decided by three points or less.

UNT's players consider its solid record on the road against its next five opponents as a good sign.

"We are familiar with everyone except Western," UNT guard Erika Bobo said. "That is an advantage, playing a team for a second time. We will know their personnel, what they like to do and who their go-to people are."

UNT is hoping to use those advantages to overcome an up-and-down conference campaign. The Lady Eagles have followed each of their last three wins with a loss and have not won consecutive games since winning three straight games from Jan. 15-22.

"It would be great to get a good win over Western," Slinker said. "They are one of the better teams in the conference."

Bobo said one of the keys to getting off to a good start against Western Kentucky will be to avoid the second-half woes that have plagued the team this season. UNT has been outscored in the second half of each of its last four games.

UNT's struggles after inter-mission were especially costly in

a loss to Middle Tennessee on Thursday. The Lady Eagles led 32-21 at halftime before collapsing in a 64-55 loss.

"We need to finish off games," Bobo said. "The first five minutes of the second half are key. We have to build on our leads."

UNT will turn to a trio of players who are averaging double figures in scoring to reach that goal. Senior forward Kim Blanton is averaging 11.7 points a game to lead the team. Junior guard Jill Medlock is adding 11.4 points a game, while sophomore forward Jamie Armstrong is posting 10.1 points.

UNT prepared for its home stretch in its last game at the Super Pit, a 54-52 win over New Mexico State on Feb. 7. The Lady Eagles are hoping to pick up where it left off at home tonight.

"Our last win against New Mexico State we had a pretty good crowd and we felt comfortable," Slinker said. "Hopefully, we can refer back to that."

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

SBC standings

West Division

Conference Overall

South Alabama 6-4 17-5

La.-Lafayette 5-5 11-10

North Texas 5-5 9-13

Denver 4-6 11-11

New Mexico State 4-6 10-12

New Orleans 4-6 9-13

East Division

Conference Overall

Arkansas State 8-2 16-6

Middle Tennessee 6-3 16-6

Western Kentucky 6-3 12-11

Florida International 5-5 11-12

Ark.-Little Rock 1-9 8-15

Thursday's results

Middle Tenn. 64, North Texas 55

La.-Lafayette 52, S. Alabama 49

Western Kentucky 73, Denver 53

Arkansas State 69, Arkansas-Little Rock 53

N. Orleans 76, N.M. St. 73 (2 OT)

Saturday's games

W. Kentucky at N. Texas, 7 p.m.

La.-Lafayette at N. Orleans, 3:30 p.m.

S. Alabama at N.M. St., 8:05 p.m.

Closing run

The North Texas women's basketball team will cap its season with five straight home games. The following is a list of the games and the result from previous meetings.

Date Opponent Score

Tonight W. Kentucky none

Feb. 19 Denver W, 70-68

Feb. 21 La.-Lafayette L, 53-50

Feb. 26 New Orleans L, 80-78

Feb. 28 S. Alabama W, 53-51