DENTON, Texas - The Old Dominion University women’s basketball team will take on the Mean Green of North Texas, Saturday, February 8, at the UNT Coliseum - Super Pit, also referred to as the “Snake Pit”. Tipoff time is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. EST/2:00 p.m. CST. Saturday’s contest will air on Fox Sports South (FSN South).
ALL-TIME SERIES
(First Ever Meeting)- Old Dominion and North Texas have never met prior to Saturday’s game.
Old Dominion’s (11-12, 4-5) Probable Starters
No. 00 – Stephanie Gardner (G – Sr. – 5’7) – (7.5 ppg/2.0 rpg)
No. 1 – Shae Kelley (F – Jr. – 6’3) – (17.3 ppg/10.1 rpg)
No. 3 – Chelisa Painter (F – RJr. – 6’1) – (8.6 ppg/5.7 rpg)
No. 5 – Galaisha Goodhope (G – So. – 5’5) – (7.8 ppg/3.6 rpg)
No. 32 – Tiffany Minor (F – Jr. – 6’0) – (8.3 ppg/3.9 rpg)
North Texas’ (9-13, 3-6) Probable Starters
No. 03 – Briesha Wynn (F – Jr. – 6’0) - (11.0 ppg/6.5 rpg)
No. 13 – Janis Peterson (G- Jr. 6’1) - (10.2 ppg/5.7 rpg)
No. 14 – Candice Adams (G – Fr. 5’8) – (6.5 ppg/1.9 rpg)
No. 23 – Acheil Tac (F – So. 6’1) - (8.7 ppg/7.1 rpg)
No. 33 – Alexis Hyder (F – So. 5’11) – (10.2 ppg/5.7 rpg)
MULTIMEDIA
Radio:
ESPN Radio 94.1 FM
Broadcast will include a pre- and postgame show!
Saturday’s game will be aired live with the Voice of the Lady Monarchs, Doug Ripley, on the play-by-play call and former Lady Monarch assistant coach, Susan Montgomery handling color duties. Doug and Susan’s radio broadcast will begin at 2:30 p.m. EST/1:30 p.m. CST from the “Snake Pit”.
The ODU InGame Mobile App
The ODU InGame App is completely FREE and is compatible with Apple and Android products. The ODU InGame Mobile App includes links for the live radio broadcast, social media feeds and up to the minute fan information!
The 2013-14 North Texas Mean Green (9-13, 3-6)
The North Texas green Machine enter Saturday’s contest with a 9-13 overall record and 3-6 record in C-USA play. Mike Peterson is in his second season in command of the NT women’s basketball team. Peterson previously coached at Wake Forest, where he became the school’s all-time winningest coach. Prior to taking over at Wake, Peterson also was the head coach at New Mexico State and then TCU.
Last year, the Mean Green won 10 conference games, which was their last season in the Sun Belt. Alexis Hyder led NT is scoring a season ago and set the school record for most double-doubles by a freshman with 10.
The Mean Green’s Last Time Out
The North Texas women’s basketball let an 18-point halftime lead slip out of their hands against Tulane, as the Green Wave pulled off an one-point victory 56-55 at in New Orleans, La.
“They are all hard losses, but we have to learn to grow up and learn to close games out and that comes with maturity,” said head coach Mike Petersen. “We just shot ourselves in the foot too many times in the second half and give them credit. They came out with the intensity we had in the first half and things just changed and we couldn’t answer.”
North Texas shot 63% in the first half and 23% in the second half, as they were outscored 35-16 in the second half after leading 39-21 at the break.
Acheil Tac and Briesha Wynn led the North Texas lead, as they both ended with double-doubles on the night. Tac tied her career-high with 14 rebounds to go along with 15 points, while Wynn had 12 points and 10 boards.
The 2013-14 Old Dominion University Lady Monarchs (11-12, 4-5)
The Lady Monarchs will look to not only improve their overall record to .500, but also their conference record, when they battle the North Texas Mean Green on the road on Saturday afternoon. ODU is led by: Shae Kelley (17.3 points, 10.1 rebounds), Tiffany Minor (8.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg), Chelisa Painter (8.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg), Galaisha Goodhope (7.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg) and Stephanie Gardner (7.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg).
The Lady Monarchs are averaging 67.6 points per game and hitting 40.6 percent of its field goals on the season, which is good for fifth in the conference. ODU is averages allowing just a 29.4 %3-point field goal percentage. Old Dominion is tied for sixth in Conference USA in rebounding defense with 39.9 rebounds per game.
The Lady Monarchs Last Time Out
In a game that the Old Dominion never trailed, the Lady Monarchs defeated Tulsa (10-9, 4-4), the 2013 Conference USA Champions, 65-53, on Wednesday night at the Ted Constant Center, behind a new career high in points from ODU’s junior co-captain forward, Shae Kelley, who netted 27 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The Lady Monarchs came storming out of the gates to begin the ballgame, leading 12-2 and forcing a Tulsa timeout after just 1:58 of action, as six of ODU’s points came from the senior co-captain, Stephanie Gardner. Old Dominion would extend their lead to as many as 22 points at the 11:56 mark of the opening half.
With 10:12 remaining in the first half, the Lady Monarchs had already forced 10 Hurricane turnovers, which led to ODU outscoring Tulsa 23-0 on points off turnovers to that point. Tulsa would end the first half on a 22-7 run, cutting their deficit down to seven points (38-31) at the half, behind hot shooting from Kadan Brady (5-6 3PT’s), who led all first half scorers with 17.
Old Dominion would again come out of the gates strong, starting the second half on a 19-7 run, giving ODU a 57-38 advantage with 11:03 remaining in regulation. But the rest of the way, Tulsa’s final 12-point deficit would be as close as the Hurricanes would get to the Lady Monarchs.
Other Lady Monarchs in double figures included Gardner and Chelisa Painter, who scored 10 points apiece; Painter also hauled down eight rebounds in 28 minutes of work. The Lady Monarchs also got contributions from Tiffany Minor (six rebounds and six assists) and freshman Odegua Oigbokie (seven points and five boards) off the bench.
Old Dominion held advantages in points in the paint (40-24), points off turnovers (24-13) and fast-break points (8-0), to go along with converting eight offensive rebounds into 18 second chance points. The Lady Monarchs forced a total of 23 Tulsa turnovers.
For the game, ODU knocked down 35.8% (24-67) of the field-goal attempts, 15% (3-20) from three and 70% (14-20) from the free-throw line. For the 40 minutes, Tulsa connected on 35.8% (19-53) of their shots from the floor, 33.3% (6-18) from downtown and 64.3% (9-14) from the charity stripe.
Don’t Forget!
The ODU Lady Monarchs return home on Saturday, February 15, when they will take on UTEP, at 7:00 p.m. Saturday’s game at the Ted Constant Convocation Center will also be Hoops for a Cure!
Next Karen Barefoot Coach’s Show
The next Karen Barefoot Coach’s Show will be Monday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. at YNot Pizza and Italian Cuisine in the University Village, hosted by the Voice of the Lady Monarchs, Doug Ripley, on ESPN Radio 94.1.
Be sure to follow ODU Women’s Basketball at @ODUWBB on Twitter and ‘Like’ the ODU Lady Monarch Basketball page by clicking HERE to stay up to date with the latest news and coverage.