LAS CRUCES, N.M. (1/10/04) - Despite having four players score in double figures the North Texas (4-9, 0-1) women’s basketball team fell to the New Mexico State Aggies (7-6, 1-0) in the Sun Belt Conference opener 83-72 at the Pan American Center.  

North Texas was led by junior guard Jill Medlock with 18 points but New Mexico State got a game-high 29 points from senior Princess Moore to pace the Aggies to the win.  

“I thought that we played hard tonight but there were stretches where we struggled on offense and to come up with defensive stop when we needed it,” said North Texas head coach Tina Slinker. “I felt like that we traded baskets with them in the second half but made too many turnovers at critical parts of the game”.

The game was a tale of two halves as the first half was a defensive struggled with the Aggies holding a 28-22 lead. The second half the offenses took over as North Texas made an early run to cut the Aggie lead to 37-34 with 16:44 in the second half. New Mexico State answered and took a 43-36 lead at the 15:22 mark but North Texas went on a 10-2  run to take a one-point lead at 46-45 with 12:31 in the game.  

Preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Sinnamon Garrett keyed another Aggie run as she connected on a three-point basket to spark a 15-4 run over the next 6:32 to give New Mexico State a 60-50 lead. The Aggies iced the game at the free throw line as they made 14 free throws over the final three minutes.

Senior forward Kim Blanton scored 16 points and Jamie Armstrong added 13 points for the Mean Green. North Texas will return to action on January 15 on the road against the Denver Pioneers.