March 7, 2016
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The North Texas women’s basketball team will open the Conference USA Tournament with a matchup against Florida Atlantic on Tuesday, set for 11 a.m. from Bartow Arena.
The Mean Green, playing as the 13 seed, will go up against the 12th-seeded Owls to open a league tournament that will conclude on Saturday. North Texas will need to win five straight games to take the C-USA title and clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
North Texas and FAU faced off only once this season as the Owls put together a 71-61 win from their home court on February 20. Playing on a neutral court on Tuesday morning, the Mean Green will look to avenge a loss in which the team shot just 29 percent from the field in the final three quarters.
The winner of the morning matchup will move on to face fifth-seeded Old Dominion at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
On The Air
• All games in which North Texas participates can be heard on the Mean Green Radio Network (KNTU 88.1 FM). Steven “Poppy” Bartolotta will have play-by-play, while T.C. Greene will provide commentary.
• The first three rounds of tournament play will be broadcast on the American Sports Network. Click here for a free online stream or see if the game will be available in your area.
What They’re Saying
On how she feels ahead of Tuesday’s tournament-opener:
“I feel very good about our team. We got the win against Southern Miss at home, which was big. In these last two games, we kept it close but more importantly I think we learned some things about how we can turn those losses into wins. Especially late in those games, I think there were situations where we’ve learned from the decisions we made and we’ll grow from that. We’re very confident that we can make some noise and advance in the tournament. I’m looking forward to it.”
- Head coach Jalie Mitchell
On the possibility of this being her final game:
“I’m hopeful going into this tournament. I’m confident in my teammates and myself that we can get the job done tomorrow. That’s all I’m thinking about. I’m not considering that this could be my last game. I’m looking to extend my season a little bit more and I’ve put trust in my teammates to help me do that.”
- Senior Acheil Tac
The Last Meeting
| North Texas | 61 |
| |
| Florida Atlantic | 71 |
February 20, 2016
Boca Raton, FL
A Look At North Texas • The Mean Green enter the C-USA Tournament with a 10-18 (5-13) record and the 13th seed.
• In her first season with the Mean Green, junior guard
Kelsey Criner earned a spot on the five-person C-USA All-Defensive Team - her first career postseason accolade and the first for NT since joining the league in 2013-14. Criner finished the year ranked third in the conference for steals (73) and steals per game (2.6).
• Over the last two months, senior
Acheil Tac has put together perhaps the best basketball of her career. She’s scored in double figures in 13 of her last 15 contests, accumulating six double-doubles in that span. On Saturday at Charlotte, Tac registered her 10th double-double of the season while scoring a career-high 26 points. She is averaging 18.8 points over the last five games.
• The NT roster is unique in that nobody has emerged as the team’s primary scorer. Instead, four players - juniors Kelsey Criner
(12.9 ppg),
Candice Adams (10.7) and
Terra Ellison (10.1), along with senior
Acheil Tac (11.7) - have shared the load at the offensive end of
the court. No North Texas team has had four players that finished the year with an average of 10+ points since the 2007-08 season.
