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[OldTimer]

Women's basketball: Ajekwu leaves UNT team

Top returning scorer quits squad for personal reasons

09:56 AM CDT on Sunday, April 2, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Mia Ajekwu, one of the key cogs in North Texas’ Sun Belt Conference West Division championship team, has left the squad for personal reasons, head coach Tina Slinker confirmed Saturday.

Mia Ajekwu

Ajekwu would have been the leading returning scorer for the Mean Green as a senior next season.

“It’s a big blow, but leaving the team is something Mia felt like she needed to do,” Slinker said. “We already have some players in place with Erica Howard and Talicia Sanders and we have some junior college players we are recruiting who could help fill the void.”

Ajekwu averaged 10.5 points per game last season, when she earned third-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors. She averaged a career-high 11.3 points in 15 games as a sophomore before a shoulder injury cut her season short.

The 6-3 post was at her best at the end of her final season. Ajekwu averaged 17.5 points in her last six games and scored a career-high 24 in a win at South Alabama with the SBC West title on the line.

The division title was the Mean Green’s fourth in their last eight seasons. UNT went on to fall to Arkansas State in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament and finished with a 19-9 record.

The Mean Green relied heavily on their frontline players throughout the season and pulled down 5.7 more rebounds per game than their opponents, a total that ranked third in the conference.

UNT could turn to a trio of veterans to help soften the blow of losing Ajekwu.

Amber Jackson, a 6-2 forward, ranked fourth on the team with an average of 7.7 points a game last season. Sanders added 5.5 points a game, while Howard posted 5.3. Sanders and Howard, a pair of posts who stand 6-2 and 6-3, respectively, will be juniors next season. Jackson is entering her sophomore year.

Howard and Jackson were named to the all-state teams in Arkansas and Indiana, respectively, during their high school careers and could take on a larger role offensively.

Howard scored a career-high 23 points as a freshman in a win over USA, a game Ajekwu missed with her a shoulder injury.

“We will need Erica to be more assertive and take this as an opportunity,” Slinker said.

Ajekwu started 12 games as a junior and is one of several key players UNT has lost since the end of last season. UNT’s starting backcourt of Erika Bobo, Mian Williams and Natalie Mireles all completed their senior campaigns last season.

UNT signed three players during the early signing period, including two post players. Mimi Goodman, a 6-2 post from Batesville, Ark., and Torrian Timms, a 6-0 post from Waxahachie, are expected to bolster the Mean Green’s front line.

UNT also signed guard Brittney James from Orange. Slinker said UNT has three scholarships remaining.

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