DRC womens BB mixing it up, new lineup

OldTimer · December 15, 2006

Women's basketball: Mixing it up

UNT to open Sun Belt play with new-look lineup

11:37 PM CST on Thursday, December 14, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

North Texas will have a slightly different look when it opens Sun Belt Conference play at New Orleans on Saturday.

Amanda Quattrocchi will be the Mean Green's starting point guard, DiDi Wali will move to shooting guard and freshman Brittney James will be UNT's first option for a point guard off the bench.

The change is one UNT hopes will spark its offense and turn its fortunes after a tough non-conference season. The Mean Green went 2-6 with all six of its losses coming on the road.

DRC/Gary Payne

North Texas point guard Amanda Quattrocchi (13) goes up for a layup against Prairie View A&M's Twila Stokes on Nov. 28 at the Super Pit.

"It's a fresh start," UNT head coach Tina Slinker said. "We have to take what we have learned and take advantage of that. We have made small strides on defense even though it does not show. We still get frustrated on offense and let that dictate the game too much."

Moving Quattrocchi into the starting lineup is one of the solutions Slinker hopes will get UNT headed in the right direction as it prepares to defend its Sun Belt West Division title. The Mean Green won the championship last season behind a veteran lineup that included three seniors and a junior that did not return to the team this year.

UNT has struggled at times to replace those players and ranks 11th out of the 13 teams in the conference with an average of 62.8 points a game.

"It took us all of non-conference to figure out that we needed to change our lineup, but I think it will help us in conference," Slinker said. "Amanda is more of a true point guard. DiDi did her best, but Amanda gives us more leadership as a point guard and does a good job of getting us into our offense."

UNT could also get a boost from Sanetra Jackson returning to full strength after battling a sprained ankle the last few weeks. The sophomore leads UNT with an average of 11.6 points a game.

Jackson is one of the young players UNT has been forced to depend on after losing two of its top three scorers from last season. The Mean Green is hoping its new lineup will finally start to come together so UNT can get back to the form of a year ago.

UNT went 19-9 and likely came up a win or two short of receiving a bid to the NIT after falling in its opening game of the conference tournament.

"We are not playing up to our potential, but we have made some adjustments and are ready now," said sophomore forward Amber Jackson, UNT's second-leading scorer at 10.1 points a game. "We have a new team that is still getting used to playing together and haven't had a lot of home games to get our feet wet. It's a lot of different things that have come together to overload us."

UNT's schedule certainly hasn't helped matters. The Mean Green has played Baylor, SMU and UTEP on the road.

UNT is in the middle of a nine-game road trip that will include not only its conference opener, but games at Texas A&M and Sun Belt power Western Kentucky as well.

The Sun Belt slate does not figure to be any easier than UNT's non-conference schedule. Eastern Division power Middle Tennessee has already upset nationally ranked Georgia on the road, while five of UNT's rivals in the seven-team West Division had winning records heading into Thursday's games.

"It will be a tough conference this year, but we will be in the mix," Wali said.

UNT should have a better idea of where it stands after facing UNO. The Privateers were 5-4 heading into a game at Louisiana-Lafayette late Thursday night.

Junior guard Le'Della English leads UNO with an average of 19.2 points a game.

UNT is hoping changing its lineup will help the Mean Green keep up with not only English, but also the rest of the conference.

"It will be a tough race this season," Slinker said. "A lot of teams have a dominant junior or senior player. We will have to mature quickly now. If we can get back home from the road trip having persevered, it will pay off."

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

Changing of the guard