DRC Women beat New Orleans 71-48 Sat

OldTimer · February 5, 2006

Women's basketball: Strong second half lifts UNT to victory

09:08 AM CST on Sunday, February 5, 2006

By Joel Brillant / For The Denton Record-Chronicle

Senior night turned out to be an offensive ambush as North Texas defeated New Orleans, 71-48, on Saturday at the Super Pit.

DRC/Gary Payne

North Texas’ Tricia Lee (3) attempts a layup while being defended by New Orleans’ Jada Frazier on Saturday at the Super Pit.

The victory, combined with a 76-69 loss by Louisiana-Lafayette to Denver, puts UNT (16-6, 6-4) back in sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt West Division.

The Mean Green showed spurts of dominance mixed with moments of mediocrity in a battle that ended up as a blowout despite a close first half.

Mia Ajekwu scored a game-high 15 points and Natalie Mireless dropped 12 more on the Privateers (2-20, 0-10) as UNT used its entire bench in the win.

“I thought at least in the second half, we came back out, I think the difference is establishing the inside game with Mia,” Mean Green head coach Tina Slinker said. “Of course Natalie had a pretty good game as well, but I’m glad that I could play a lot of people and win at the same time.”

Both players’ strong performances in the second half helped widen a narrow gap that saw New Orleans down by just three at halftime.

“Everybody just felt like we just needed to get it together, and I guess just pick up the intensity,” Mian Williams said. “We all just came together and decided that we needed to get our act together and just come back out and win.”

UNO used good ball movement as well as head fakes and crossovers to create open looks at the basket, but just wasn’t able to knock down shots.

The Privateers kept the game close in the first half by shooting 41 percent from the field (12-of-29) but came out in the second half and couldn’t buy a bucket.

New Orleans shot a dismal 17 percent in the final 20 minutes of the game, (5-of-28) and converted just one 3-pointer.

The Privateers relied heavily on spurts of hope that came in five-second doses on the fast break.

Smooch Rogers scored a team-high 13 points and drilled 3 out of 4 treys, while her teammates made several mental mistakes, missed easy shots and continually made bad decisions in the loss.

The Mean Green forced 22 turnovers by the Privateers, leading to 16 points.

In the second half, UNT went on two 11-0 runs and defensively held the Privateers to under 50 points — a feat they have accomplished five times this season.

UNT plays again on Wednesday at the Super Pit when it hosts Middle Tennessee at 7 p.m.

North Texas 71, New Orleans 48

UNO (2-20, 0-10) — Young 3-9 1-1 7, Kassabian 0-2 0-0 0, Frazier 2-11 0-1 5, Alexander 2-3 1-2 5, Rogers 5-8 0-0 13, English 2-8 6-6 11, Johnson 0-7 0-0 0, A. Williams 3-9 1-2 7. Totals 17-57 9-12 48.

UNT (16-6, 6-4) — Sanders 2-8 0-0 4, Ajekwu 7-10 1-3 15, Bobo 0-6 2-2 2, Mireles 4-5 1-2 12, M. Williams 2-7 2-4 8, Howard 5-12 2-2 12, Lee 1-6 0-0 2, Jackson 0-4 2-2 2, Hall 2-5 2-2 6, Wali 1-4 0-0 2, Quattrocchi 0-1 0-0 0, Wilson 0-0 2-2 2, Vation 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 25-70 16-21 71.

Halftime score — UNT 33-30. 3-point goals — UNO 5-16 (Frazier 1-4, Alexander 0-1, Rogers 3-4, English 1-3, Johnson 0-4), UNT 5-11 (Mireles 3-4, M. Williams 2-4, Lee 0-1, Hall 0-1, Wali 0-1). Fouled out — Young. Rebounds — UNO 40 (Young, A. Williams 7), UNT 49 (Sanders 11). Assists — UNO 12 (Frazier 4), UNT 13 (Bobo 5). Total fouls — UNO 19, UNT 15. Attendance — 798.