Game 4 • Tuesday, November 22, 2011 • 7:00 p.m.
SMU Mustangs (3-0, 0-0 C-USA)
North Texas Mean Green (2-1, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Denton, Texas • The Super Pit (10,500)
Radio: KNTU 88.1 FM • TV: None
Series Record: SMU leads 27-15
Last: L, 72-85 (12/7/2010) at SMU

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North Texas Hosts Cross-Metroplex Rival SMU
North Texas hosts cross-Metroplex rival SMU, looking for its first win against the Mustangs since 2005-06, and its first 3-1 start since 2008-09. The Mean Green are coming off a 70-60 loss to Oral Roberts, despite leading the game by as much as seven in the second half, and having a halftime lead for the third time in as many games.

The Big Three
Jasmine Godbolt, Brittney Hudson, and Tamara Torru have each been consistent contributors for the Mean Green in their first three games, each scoring 10+ points in the first three contests. Combined, the three are averaging 40.7 points and 21.0 rebounds per game. Jasmine Godbolt (15.3 ppg) has not had below eight rebounds in a game, while Torru (12.7 ppg) has not had less than seven. Hudson (12.7 ppg) has at least three steals in all three of her contests so far.

North Texas vs. SMU
SMU leads the all-time series against North Texas, 27-15, in what is North Texas' most-played and longest-standing rivalry. The Mean Green have taken on the Mustangs for every year of the program's existence, the only series the Mean Green have renewed every season. Last season, the Mustangs knocked off North Texas 85-72 at Moody Coliseum, the last game of the Mean Green's eight-game road trip. SMU has won the last five, dating back to 2005-06, and eight of the last nine, dating back to 2001-02, in the series between the two teams. Rhonda Rompola and Karen Aston have coached against each other once, with Aston's Charlotte squad knocking off Rompola's Mustangs 76-74 in 2008-09.

Last Time With SMU
DALLAS (12/7/2010)- North Texas could not hold onto an early lead and fell to the SMU Mustangs by a score of 85-72, the final contest of an eight-game road trip that ended at Moody Coliseum.

The Mean Green jumped out to a twelve-point lead, holding an 18-6 advantage with 14:23 remaining in the first half, as both Tamara Torru and Ash'Lynne Evans contributed six points to the Mean Green run. However, the Mustangs came back to take a 43-36 lead by halftime.

Freshman Ash'Lynne Evans posted a career-high 16 points in just 20 minutes of action. Evans had her second career double-digit scoring night, going 5 of 6 from the field and 6 of 7 from the charity stripe. Evans led the team with eight rebounds, the second-highest total of her career. Sophomore Jasmine Godbolt scored in double figures for the ninth straight game this season, as she scored 10 points on the evening.

Just Missing A Double-Double
Jasmine Godbolt just missed on her 18th career double-double in each of the last two games, picking up double-digit points and nine rebounds in both games. Eight times in her career has Godbolt came one rebound away from a double-double, including the last two games.

Hudson Steals The Show
Brittney Hudson is leading the Sun Belt Conference with 4.0 assists per game, and has 12 steals so far in the season, over halfway to her career high of 23, set in 2009-10. In addition, she ranks 17th in the conference with 12.7 points per game, and 15th in the league in free throw percentage. She leads all North Texas players in +/- per 40 minutes so far this season.

They're Free For A Reason
North Texas has three players who are perfect from the free throw line so far this season. Laura McCoy is 8-for-8 from the line, including a 6-for-6 peformance at UT Arlington. Ash'Lynne Evans and Desiree Nelson are both 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. As a team, North Texas ranks 3rd in the Sun Belt with a .724 free throw percentage.

Crashing The Boards
Through two games, North Texas is owning the offensive glass, having a 41.7% offensive rebounding percentage (48 offensive rebounds, 67 defensive rebounds allowed), which ranks third in the Sun Belt Conference.. The Mean Green have scored 47 second-chance points on 48 offensive rebounds, and have only allowed 25 second-chance points on 33 offensive rebounds allowed.

Mean Green Off To Fast Start
North Texas had its first 2-0 start since 2005-06, with Karen Aston taking over the reins of the program. Aston joined Tina Slinker as the only two coaches in North Texas program history to win a debut game, with a 66-47 road win. The Mean Green have allowed 167 points through two games, the fewest amount of points allowed through three games since 2002-03, which was the Mean Green's last 3-0 start. The Mean Green are looking for its first 3-1 start since 2008-09.

Godbolt Has Strong Start
Preseason All-Sun Belt selection Jasmine Godbolt has started the season well, averaging 15.7 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting .545 from the floor, all of which rank in the top 10 of the Sun Belt Conference and all of which would be career-highs if she produces at the same rate. She scored 17 points against Oral Roberts on Nov. 16, the highest single-game output for any Mean Green player this year.

Torru Seeing Double-Double
Tamara Torru is nearly averaging a double-double through three games, (12.7 pts, 9.0 reb) and had the second double-double of her career at UT Arlington (13 pts, 12 reb), helping the Mean Green to a 66-47 victory. Torru grabbed 12 rebounds at UTA, just one short of her career-high 13, and reached 10+ rebounds for only the third time in her career. Torru becomes the first North Texas player since Erika Bobo in 2005 to open the season with a double-double. She also tied a career-high with three assists.
Godbolt Named Preseason All-Conference
Junior forward Jasmine Godbolt was named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team. Godbolt led the team in both field goal percentage (.476) and rebounding (228 total/7.9 per game) in 2010-11. She finished second on North Texas and 13th in the Sun Belt in points per game with 13.2, ranked fifth in the league in rebounding, and ninth in field goal percentage during 2010-11.

North Texas Faces Daunting Schedule
North Texas' schedule includes 12 home games, plus marquee non-conference showdowns with New Mexico, SMU and Alabama coming to the Super Pit, and games against Oregon State, Arizona and Texas away from home. The rugged schedule contains 13 games, plus a potential 14th in the Rice Tournament, against teams which made the WNIT or NCAA Tournament last season.

The Super Pit Is It
The Mean Green won its last four of its last five non-conference home games dating back to the start of 2010-11, and have won six of its last eight non-conference home games in the Super Pit, dating back to 2009. Since 1998-99, North Texas is 103-55 (.651) in all games at The Super Pit.

NT Records At Home Since 1998-99
1998-99: 10-0
1999-00: 11-2
2000-01: 9-2
2001-02: 12-0
2002-03: 5-6
2003-04: 6-6
2004-05: 9-3
2005-06: 11-3
2006-07: 6-5
2007-08: 9-6
2008-09: 4-7
2009-10: 6-7
2010-11: 4-7
2011-12: 1-1

Defense Wins Championships
One area of emphasis for head coach Karen Aston will be on the defensive side of the ball. North Texas has allowed over 70 points in each of the last three seasons, as they allowed an average of 74.3 points a game during that stretch. In her last two seasons at Charlotte, Aston's team allowed an average of just 60.2 points a game while its opponents shot under 35 percent from the floor.

NT Defense the last 3 years.
Year Points FG%
2008-09 71.5 43.8
2009-10 78.5 43.8
2010-11 73.3 41.9

2011-12 55.7 38.0

Charlotte defense the last 2 years
Year Points FG%
2009-10 60.3 32.4
2010-11 60.1 35.6

Draining It From Downtown
North Texas is enjoying its best run of 3-pointers in school history. The last three seasons has seen the Mean Green hit a combined 382 3-pointers, which is the most in school history over a three year period. The last three seasons rank No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 all-time in a single season at North Texas in 3-pointers. North Texas had a school record 450 3-point attempts last season.

Bolting Into The Record Books
Entering her junior season, Jasmine Godbolt has a chance to enter the record books in numerous offensive categories. Godbolt is only 207 points away from becoming only the 13th player in school history to score 1,000 points. She needs 11 more rebounds to enter the top-10 all-time school history in rebouds and is 251 away from the school record. Godbolt has 209 free throws for her career, 13 away from the top-10 in school history, while she already ranks sixth all-time with 390 free throw attempts.

Mean Green Voted Fifth
North Texas recieved one first place vote and was picked to finish fifth in the West Division in the preseason coaches poll. Denver was picked to finish first in the West, and Middle Tennessee was picked to win the East division.

2011-12 Sun Belt Preseason Poll
West Division Points East Division Points
1. Denver 62 (6) 1. Middle Tennessee 68 (9)
2. Arkansas State 56 (1) 2. FIU 58 (1)
3. UALR 53 (3) 3. Western Kentucky 48 (1)
4. Louisiana-Monroe 29 4. South Alabama 38
5. North Texas 28 (1) 5. Florida Atlantic 23 (1)
6. Louisiana-Lafayette 24 (1) 6. Troy 17

Torru Shoots The Three
Senior Tamara Torru led North Texas with 28 3-pointers last season and has a chance to break into the top-10 all-time at North Texas. Torru has 45 3-pointers for her career and needs only 18 more to enter the top-10 all-time.

Hot Hoops In Hot Springs
For the fourth consecutive season, the Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be held in Hot Springs, Arkansas at the Summit Arena & Convention Center. The format features all 12 teams going to Hot Springs. The top two teams from each division will earn bye's into the quarterfinals. The rest of the field will be seeded by finish in their respective division. The women's tournament will be held from March 3-6. North Texas' Coaches Show is on the day preceding the tournament, March 2, from Lucky's in Hot Springs.

North Texas On The Tube
The Sun Belt Network televises three North Texas women's basketball conference games this season. The Jan. 15 game at ULM game begins at 2 p.m. on the Sun Belt Network. The network televises a home double-header with the men's basketball team against Arkansas State on Jan. 28, at 7 p.m., which will also be live on Cox Sports Television (CST) and Comcast Sports Southwest (CSS). A home double-header on Feb. 18 against Louisiana-Lafayette tips off 1 p.m. followed by the men's game at 3:30 p.m, both televised on the Sun Belt Network.

North Texas Inks Five
North Texas signed five players in the early signing period, including two guards, Briana Brooks and Loryn Goodwin, and three forwards in Eboniey Jeter, I'Tiana Taylor and Acheil Tac. Brooks (Tyler Robert E. Lee HS), was named first-team all-district in her junior year, posting 15.5 points and five assists per game. Goodwin (Cypress Falls HS) was named was named TGCA All-State and TBCA All-Region, All-Super Centex team, academic all-district team, and was the District 12-5A Offensive MVP in 2010-11. Jeter (Harker Heights HS) averaged 13.9 points and 16 rebounds a year her junior year, en route to being named first team all-district. Tac (Sasche HS) is one of the leading rebounders in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for a forward and was named All-District 10-5A in 2011. Taylor (Pflugerville HS) ranks as the 52nd best power forward in the country by Dan Olsen Girls Basketball Report.

Game Time Changed For Tulane
North Texas' Dec. 7 home game against Tulane has been moved to 7:30 p.m., from its original game time of 7 p.m. The game time has been pushed back to accomadate fans who want to attend both the football banquet earlier that evening, and the women's basketball game.