DRC womens schedule, 11 home games, 9 game road

OldTimer · July 12, 2006

Nine-game road trip on Mean Green schedule

UNT women have only 11 home games this season

07:25 AM CDT on Wednesday, July 12, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

North Texas’ path to the Sun Belt Conference West Division title last season was paved in large part within the familiar confines of the Super Pit.

Tina Slinker

The advantage is one the Mean Green won’t have next season.

UNT will play just 11 home games in the 2006-07 campaign and will embark on the second-longest road trip in school history, a nine-game trek that will last all of December and into January.

“We don’t have a lot of home games, but I am excited that a lot of them are against regional opponents, so our fans can get to them,” UNT head coach Tina Slinker said. “It’s comparable to some of the schedules we have had in the past. It has good balance and will prepare us for conference.

“I am glad that I have a team that plays well on the road.”

The most intriguing non-conference game on the Mean Green’s schedule that was released Tuesday could be its first. UNT will open the season at Baylor in the Preseason WNIT on Nov. 10. Only 16 teams were invited to play in the prestigious event. Baylor, which won the national championship after the 2004-05 season, will be making its second appearance.

“The Baylor game will build excitement for the season,” Slinker said. “To play a team that is just one season removed from a national championship will motivate our team for the opening of the season.”

UNT will play its first home game on Nov. 25 against Loyola-Chicago and will open Sun Belt play on Dec. 16 in New Orleans. The Mean Green will take on rival SMU on Dec. 9 in Dallas.

The Mean Green hammered the Mustangs, 84-69, last season for their first win over SMU in the last three years.

The toughest aspect of the Mean Green’s schedule will be its extended road trip that will begin with a game at UTEP on Dec. 2 and will end with a game at Arkansas State on Jan. 6. The trip is the longest for UNT since the 1986-87 season when the Mean Green played 10 straight games on the road.

Slinker said she tried to find a way to break up the trip with a home game, but was unable to change UNT’s schedule.

The road-heavy nature of UNT’s slate can be attributed in part to a series of return games the Mean Green will make after playing 14 home games last year, the second-highest number in school history.

UNT capitalized on that schedule and a veteran roster to finish 19-9 and win its fourth division title in the last eight seasons.

UNT will have just one senior on its roster next season. Fortunately for the Mean Green, several of their younger players gained valuable experience last season. Amber Jackson averaged 7.7 points per game as a redshirt freshman in the 2005-06 campaign, while sophomore Erica Howard and freshman Sanetra Jackson averaged 5.3 and 5.0 points per game, respectively.

The trio played a key role in the Mean Green finishing 7-4 on the road last season.

UNT supplemented its roster of experienced young players with a pair of junior college transfers in Mamie James, a guard from Tyler Junior College and Lysa Koubiteb from Midland Junior College.

“I am excited because freshmen become so much more mature as sophomores,” Slinker said. “Our freshmen played a lot last year … They knew going into the summer that they will have a lot of their shoulders.”

UNT is hoping those players will be ready for a schedule that will leave them on the road for an extended period of time in the middle of the season.

“We need to build off of what we did last season,” Slinker said. “Our schedule is a challenge, but it will prepare us for conference play.”

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

North Texas 2006-07 women’s basketball schedule

November

3 Houston Jaguars* 7 p.m.

10 at Baylor# 7 p.m.

17 at Hampton 7 p.m.

19 at William & Mary 2 p.m.

25 Loyola Chicago 5 p.m.

28 Prairie View A&M 7 p.m.

December