DRC Women BB expecting big season

[OldTimer]

Women's basketball: UNT women expecting big season

Slinker one win away from 200 in career

09:46 AM CST on Thursday, November 17, 2005

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

When asked earlier this week about standing on the verge of winning her 200th game at North Texas, Tina Slinker credited the milestone to her staff and her players, not to mention sticking around for more than 15 years.

DRC/Gary Payne

North Texas women’s head coach Tina Slinker will be looking for her 200th win in her team’s opener against Stephen F. Austin on Friday.

It’s that experience that has UNT’s head coach thinking the upcoming season could be special for reasons other than the fact she enters the year with 199 wins in 16 seasons.

Slinker has a senior-laden team for the first time in a long time, one that the league’s coaches picked to win the Sun Belt Conference’s West Division.

The path to fulfilling that promise will begin on Friday when the Mean Green open the season at home against Stephen F. Austin.

“The only reason that I want that 200th win would be it would be a great way to start the season off,” said Slinker, who has a 199-240 record at UNT. “I haven’t really thought about it being No. 200 as much as I want to get that first win to get us going in a positive direction.”

Slinker has spent the last few years trying to get the Mean Green back on track after Jalie Mitchell and Rosalyn Reades led UNT to back-to-back NIT berths in the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.

To say the path back to the top hasn’t been easy would be an understatement.

UNT endured two straight losing seasons before finishing .500 last year. A 14-14 season might not sound like much, but that performance has given UNT hope for the upcoming season.

The Mean Green won three of their last four regular season games to finish second in the Sun Belt’s West Division and took eventual Sun Belt Tournament champion Middle Tennessee to overtime before falling in the conference tournament.

UNT returns all but one of the major contributors from that team, including senior guard Erika Bobo and junior post Mia Ajekwu.

Bobo led UNT in scoring with an average of 13.0 points a game with Ajekwu just behind at 11.3, despite missing the final 13 games of the season with a shoulder injury.

“We feel like it’s our time,” Bobo said. “We made strides each year and became better and better. This year teams will be gunning for us instead of us gunning for other teams.”

Bobo’s confidence is based in large part on a roster that Slinker and UNT’s players think has just the right combination of experience, depth and young players who could contribute.

UNT will start the same five players as last season with senior guards Mian Williams and Natalie Mireles and sophomore forward Erica Howard joining Bobo and Ajekwu.

Bobo and Mireles are part of a four-player senior class that UNT will rely on.

“The senior class is the one I have focused on,” Slinker said. “You want it for them because they have been through a lot. It’s been a rebirth since we lost those six seniors a few years ago. This year we can prove that we have rebuilt.”

While UNT will look to its core of veteran players to lead a run back to the top of the Sun Belt, it could be a host of youngsters that could put the Mean Green over the top. UNT signed four of the top 35 players in Texashoops.com’s 2005 state rankings who will be freshmen this season.

Amber Jackson, a highly regarded 6-2 forward, essentially joined that class after sitting out last season as a redshirt with a knee injury.

“We are 15 deep this season and have a lot of people who can score,” Bobo said. “We need to take advantage of that.”

The key for UNT could be developing into a consistent offensive team. The Mean Green held their opponents to just 37.5 percent shooting from the field last season, a total that ranked third in the Sun Belt.

The problem was UNT ranked last in the league with a 33.8 shooting percentage.

UNT saw its offensive struggles crop up again in an exhibition loss to the Oklahoma Flyers last week. The Mean Green coughed up a 28-9 run in the final 12 minutes of the game.

Slinker said the Mean Green must maintain their defensive prowess while becoming more adept at the offensive end to be successful.

The goal is one Slinker believes UNT can reach because of the players the Mean Green have in place. UNT will begin to find out if it has the right combination on Friday when Slinker aims for her 200th win.

“We are in a great position with the kids that we have, the experience, the influx of new players and depth,” Slinker said. “As of today, we are in a good situation.”

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

UNT roster

Erika Bobo G 5-8 Sr.

Natalie Mireles G 5-6 Sr.

Mia Ajekwu P 6-3 Jr.

Mian Williams G 5-8 Sr.

Erica Howard P 6-3 So.

Amanda Quattrocchi G 5-7 So.

Talicia Sanders P 6-2 So.

DiDi Wali G 5-9 Jr.

Kennethia Wilson F 5-10 Sr.

Amber Jackson F 6-2 Rfr.

Jo Hall G 5-8 Fr.

Sanetra Jackson G 5-8 Fr.

Tricia Lee G 5-8 Fr.

Ashley Vation F 6-0 Fr.

UNT schedule

Nov. 18 Stephen F. Austin 5 p.m.

Nov. 22 Southern Arkansas 7 p.m.

New Hampshire Tournament

Nov. 26 Boston College 2 p.m.

Nov. 27 New Hampshire or Cornell noon or 2 p.m.

Nov. 30 at Louisiana-Monroe 7 p.m.

Dec. 3 SMU 5 p.m.

Dec. 8 UT-Pan American 7 p.m.

Dec. 11 UTEP 2 p.m.

Dec. 18 at Texas 2 p.m.

Dec. 20 UC-Irvine 7 p.m.

Dec. 22 at Prairieview A&M 6 p.m.

Dec. 31 Northwestern State 2 p.m.

Jan. 5 at New Orleans 7 p.m.

Jan. 7 at Louisiana-Lafayette 7 p.m.

Jan. 12 Denver 5 p.m.

Jan. 16 Florida International 5 p.m.

Jan. 19 at Arkansas-Little Rock 5:15 p.m.

Jan. 21 at Arkansas State 7:05 p.m.

Jan. 26 Troy 5 p.m.

Jan. 28 South Alabama 5 p.m.

Feb. 2 Louisiana-Lafayette 7 p.m.

Feb. 4 New Orleans 7 p.m.

Feb. 8 Middle Tennessee 7 p.m.

Feb. 11 at Western Kentucky 2 p.m.

Feb. 19 at Denver 8 p.m.

Feb. 23 at Troy 5:15 p.m.

Feb. 25 at South Alabama 6 p.m.

March 3-7 at Sun Belt Conference Tourney