DRC Thur FR anchoring NT women

OldTimer · February 17, 2005

Freshmen anchoring UNT women

07:31 AM CST on Thursday, February 17, 2005

By BRETT VITO / Denton Record-Chronicle

Erica Howard thought she had a pretty good idea of what to expect when the North Texas women faced Louisiana-Lafayette and Anna Petrakova less than two weeks ago.

The freshman post heard about Petrakova's skill and her ability to score baskets in bunches.

What she saw in person was even more impressive.

Petrakova sliced past Howard, fellow freshman Talicia Sanders and just everyone else the Mean Green used to defend her while posting a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds in a 73-66 ULL win.

Howard and Sanders will get a second chance to face Petrakova in a 5 p.m. game tonight at the Super Pit. The UNT men will face Denver in the second half of the doubleheader at 7:30 p.m.

"We feel like we have something to prove after how well Petrakova played against us last time," Howard said. "We didn't know how to play her the first time. Now that we have some experience, we will do a lot better."

The duo's showdown with the 6-3 senior center will be the key matchup in perhaps the Mean Green's most important game of the season.

UNT (11-12, 6-5) enters the contest just one game behind the Ragin' Cajuns (17-7, 7-4) in the Sun Belt Conference's West Division standings with four games left in the regular season.

"This is the most important stretch of our season," UNT coach Tina Slinker said. "These next few games will determine how successful our season will be."

The Mean Green will have an excellent chance to at least share the SBC West title if Sanders and Howard can keep Petrakova in check and help UNT win tonight.

Petrakova was named the Sun Belt's Player of the Year last season and is averaging 17.5 points and 9.8 rebounds a game to rank fourth and third in the Sun Belt, respectively, in each category this year.

The Mean Green might have been in better position to face Petrakova earlier this season before two of their top frontcourt players suffered major injuries. Mia Ajkewu, a 6-3 sophomore forward, started the first 15 games of the season and ranked second on the team with an average of 11.3 points a game before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.

Sophomore forward Kelsie Edwards missed nine games with a stress fracture in her leg before returning to play limited minutes in UNT's last two games.

Howard and Sanders were forced into more prominent roles to fill in for their injured teammates. Neither player was happy about seeing Ajekwu and Edwards sitting on the sideline, but they tried to take advantage of an opportunity to play.

"Getting the chance to play has been the best part of my freshman season," Sanders said. "To come to college and get a chance to show what I can do has been great. Not a lot of people get that opportunity, so I want to make the most of it."

That is just what both players have done.

Howard scored in double figures in four straight games during conference play, while Sanders is inching closer to setting a new freshman rebounding record.

Sanders is averaging 6.9 rebounds per game, just short of the 7.1 rebounds per game former UNT standout LaFreda Deckard posted in the 1994-95 season.

"Erica and Talicia complement each other," Slinker said. "Talicia is a little more physical, while Erica is more of a finesse player."

The UNT men's game against Denver might not be a battle for first place like the women's game, but it will be no less important for the Mean Green.

UNT comes into the night tied for fourth place in the SBC West and is looking to take advantage of a favorable schedule to make a late run up the league standings. The Mean Green will play three of their final four regular season games at the Super Pit.

UNT tuned up for the stretch run on Monday with a 103-44 pounding of Texas-Permian Basin, an NAIA team. The win came just two days after Western Kentucky beat UNT on a half-court buzzer beater.

"We got a lot of things done and improved from Saturday's game to Monday's game. That's what is important to get ready for the stretch run," UNT coach Johnny Jones said.

The first game of the Mean Green's season-ending series of games could be one of the most challenging. The Pioneers hammered UNT 79-52 in the teams' first meeting of the season.

"You could argue that Denver is the best team in our league right now," Jones said. "They are very talented at each position and are playing very well."

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

Coach · February 17, 2005

UNT comes into the night tied for fourth place in the SBC West and is looking to take advantage of a favorable schedule to make a late run up the league standings. The Mean Green will play three of their final four regular season games at the Super Pit.

Favorable schedule?

Granted three are at home, but two are teams that NT has already lost to (USA & Denver) and the other is against UNO who has beat NT in Denton as recently as last season. Oh, and the other game is on the road at La-Lafayette.

No, it isn't the ACC, but I wouldn't call it favorable either for where this team is and in relation to the rest of the Sun Belt.

Tonight should be a big indicator of what to expect from this team in the tournament. Everyone should try to make their way out tonight.

NTEagle08 · February 17, 2005

Favorable schedule?
Granted three are at home, but two are teams that NT has already lost to (USA & Denver) and the other is against UNO who has beat NT in Denton as recently as last season. Oh, and the other game is on the road at La-Lafayette.
No, it isn't the ACC, but I wouldn't call it favorable either for where this team is and in relation to the rest of the Sun Belt.
Tonight should be a big indicator of what to expect from this team in the tournament. Everyone should try to make their way out tonight.

Favorable or not, the team needs to win as many of the games in the next week and a half if they have any hope on getting the #3 seed in the division and getting a first round bye, and hope for a New Orleans loss as well. New Orleans and South Alabama have been horrible road teams in the Belt this season, so at least we have a leg up on that. But yes, none of these games will be cakewalks.