The SMU women’s basketball team will travel to Denton on Saturday afternoon to take on the University of North Texas Mean Green.
The Mustangs defeated Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday night, 66-60, to improve to a five-game win-streak, holding a 7-1 season record. UNT posts a 6-3 record, with their last game resulting in a road loss to Oklahoma, 42-79, crushing their five-game winning streak. The Mean Green is currently 3-0 at home this season.
Head coach Rhonda Rompola explained, “A road game is always a huge difference as far as I’m concerned. I mean there’s a big difference, it’s a different environment, different crowd and different set of officials.”
One threat UNT brings to the Mustangs is the addition of former player Shannan Fears to the coaching staff. Named one of the fiercest players in recent history at North Texas, UNT head coach Tina Slinker believes Fears will bring an immediate impact to the program, especially in improving the attitude of the players.
Along with having an alumna helping on the sidelines, UNT also has an impressive group of guards, three of whom were leading team scorers last season. Juniors Sanetra Jackson, Tricia Lee and Jo Hall are expected to lead their team again this season. Jackson led the Mean Green last year in three pointers and free-throw percentage, ranking in the top 10 all-time positions at UNT. Hall finished against OU with a team-high 13 points and three steals. Averaging 10.8 points per game, the forward could pose a threat with her 5.8 rebounds per game as well.
The Mustangs have their work cut out for them, with UNT forcing more turnovers than any other team in the Sun Belt Conference this season with 176 during the first eight games. The Mustangs also have to watch out for sophomore Brittney James, who currently holds the most steals in the Sun Belt Conference this year, averaging three steals per game, 22 total.
“You have to be sharp,” said Rompola. “I told our kids, you have to understand when you go on the road you’re not going to get some of these calls that you got here at home, and you have to be mentally prepared for that.”
Looking back to the Hilltop, SMU leads the series against UNT 23-14, with the teams sharing their wins by protecting their home advantage. In their last meeting, SMU defeated North Texas 70-53 in Dallas.
Janielle Dodds will also look to pass Kerri Delaney for total career points in Saturday’s matchup. Dodds passed Shanell Thomas against SFA, leaving her with 1,438 total career points. Dodds will need to sink 21 points to take over the second-place spot.
Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 1.
