Sports
Thursday, February 17, 2011 Sean Gorman, Sports Editor
Page 5 sgorman@ntdaily.com
Mean Green hosts Jaguars at Super Pit tonight BY BOBBY LEWIS
Senior Staff Writer The Mean Green women’s basketball team w ill tr y to end its five-game losing streak tonight against South Alabama after hav ing two weeks off since its last game. T h is is t he longest t he Mean Green has gone without play ing during the reg ular season since the 2002-2003 season. It is the third time in 19 seasons UNT went at least 14 days without playing. UNT’s game at UALR was scheduled for last Thursday, but w a s post poned u nt i l Ma rch 1 because of heav y snowfall in Arkansas. “I’m not rea l ly wor r ied a bout r u st ,” he ad c oach Shanice Stephens said. “We’ve gotten plenty of reps and ups a nd dow ns a nd indiv idua l work and a lot of shots up, so we’ve made the most of our time.” South Alabama (14-10, 6-6) is also coming off a lengthy brea k, w it h it s la st ga me played a week ago aga inst Troy. The Jaguars has struggled in Denton, as the Mean
Green (5-19, 2-9) holds an 8-1 all-time home record against South Alabama. The Mean Green’s streak of facing tough-minded defensive teams will continue when the Jaguars v isit the Super Pit. Sout h A laba ma comes into the game holding opponents to 37 percent shooting, rank ing second in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jag uars a llow opponents to shoot 24 percent from beyond the arc, which is tops in the Sun Belt.
UNT vs. South Alabama vs. Tip off is at 7 p.m. tonight at the Super Pit.
Stats on stopping four game slide UNT turns the ball over 19.8 times per game USA shoots 38 percent from the field USA has not won in Denton since 2004
“They are sometimes inconsistent but they can score.”
they’re a good scoring team on different nights. They are sometimes inconsistent, but can score the ball.” UNT allows 74.3 points per game, which ranks last in the Sun Belt. During the team’s —Shanice Stephens losing streak, the Mean Green head coach has improved on the defensive end, allowing 71.8 points “This is a pretty good defen- per contest. sive team and it’s really going “We just need to come to take us taking care of the in focused a nd have a lot ball,” Stephens said. “On our of ener g y,” ju n ior g ua rd end, we really have to defend Kasondra Foreman said. “One t he ba l l a s wel l bec au se of our big things is that we just
need to talk on defense. If we don’t communicate, we can’t be successful.” U N T m a y b e w i t h ou t Foreman’s backcourt mate, s ho ot i n g g u a r d Br it t ne y Hudson, for tonight’s game. The junior injured her right foot in practice last week. “The trainer said she thinks I bruised a bone or something like that,” Hudson said. “She just basically told me to take it day by day.” The action will tip off 5 p.m. tonight from the Super Pit.
PHOTO BY AMBER PLUMLEY/INTERN
Sophomore Sarah Workman looks for an open teammate to keep the ball from senior Denetra Kellum during a Feb. 8 practice.
Softball star looks for Lewis’ Last Call: Softball success on the mound team needs time to gel BY BOBBY LEWIS
Senior Staff Writer Mallory Cantler entered this softball season 54 hits shy of becoming UNT’s all-time leader in hits and five doubles short of becoming the school’s all-time leader in that category. However, neither of those stats is her most impressive. Her biggest accomplishment came in the classroom, where Cantler earned her bachelor’s degree in operations and supply chain management in three years. She is pursuing her MBA, while returning to the pitcher’s circle for the first time in three years. “Well, when she’s asked to do something, she’s very—she will give 110 percent,” said Mallory’s mother, Becky Cantler. “When [head coach T.J. Hubbard] asked her this summer if she wanted to pitch and everything, she didn’t hesitate at all.” Before last fall’s ex hibition games, Mallory Cantler had never pitched for the Mean Green, despite pitching throughout her high school career. She finished her four-year Jarrell High School career with a 0.28 ERA, but was brought in as a first basemen when she came to UNT three years ago. The only experience she had at first was with a traveling team she played on during high school. “It was kind of, ‘Are you going to hit everyday or not?’” she said. “I mean, I wanted to be an everyday player and I had a pretty strong bat coming in here, and since I had experience at first base, it was really the best fit for me.” During high school, she was
as deadly at the plate as she was from the pitcher’s circle, hitting .568 with 55 doubles and 18 home MALLORY runs. CANTLER T h e change worked out, as she was named All-Sun Belt Conference first team all three years she played first base. However, by the end of last season, it was apparent to Hubbard that with two of his pitchers not returning for the 2011 season, he needed to fill
“She was the youngest of our three daughters, and there was a T-ball team in the town and they didn’t have enough players,” said her father Don Cantler. “She needed to be 5 years old, but they went with Mallory because of her sisters, and even at 4 years old, she was kind of one of the best players on the field.” Don a nd Beck y Ca nt ler w atc he d t h at g a me a nd haven’t missed ver y ma ny since. Despite the almost threehour drive from Jarrell, where Ma llor y Cant ler was born, they travel to Denton to see
“There’s one more year to go and I think this could be a really special year for us.”
—Mallory Cantler First baseman/pitcher
the void they left. “I’m not too worried about her not being ready to go, just because of the way she works and the way she practices,” Hubbard said. “I can remember just playing pranks on her during down time and saying, ‘Hey you’re going in today?’ She would always get real freaked out because she hadn’t pitched in a while and she didn’t want to put herself in a position to do bad.” By that time, Mallory Cantler was used to sudden changes involving softball, considering the way she got hooked on the game when she was 4 years old.
almost all her home games. Her parents drove out to Tempe, Ariz. to see the Mean Green’s f irst ga mes of t he season when it played in the Kajikawa Classic. In Mallory Cantler’s first fall start, she allowed four hits and struck out six in seven shutout innings against a local junior college. She helped her own cause by getting three hits with two RBI in a Mean Green 10-0 win. “I think that my UNT career has been pretty great, but it’s not finished yet,” she said. “There’s still one more year to go and I think this could be a really special year for us.”
Adams earns weekly award Adams earned fifth place with a time of 24.41 seconds in the 200-meter dash, posting BY SEAN GORMAN the third fastest time in the Sun Sports Editor Belt. Later in the weekend, Adams Senior hurdler Alysha Adams was awarded her second Sun Belt won the 60-meter hurdle with a Track Athlete of the Week Tuesday time of 8.28 seconds, notching after notching three personal the second fastest time in the season-best times at the Iowa Sun Belt and the 23rd quickest finish in the nation. State Classic last weekend.
Opinion
Adams ended the tournament with a 60-meter dash time of 7.54, the third fastest time in the conference. The senior earned the award earlier this season on Jan. 25 after winning the 60-meter hurdles at the J.D. Martin Invitational. UNT returns to action Sat u rday at t he Sooner Invitational in Norman, Okla.
Opinion BY BOBBY LEWIS
Senior Staff Writer The UNT softball team got its season underway last week in Tempe, Ariz. when the team played tough competition in the Kajikawa Classic, going 2-4 in the process. The team played well to start off the year with two wins against Cal State Bakersfield and Appalachian State, but left the deserts of Arizona in disappointment. Two of the team’s four losses came against nationally ranked opponents in No. 14 Oregon and No. 18 Stanford, so there’s really nothing to be too upset about, especially since the Mean Green held leads against both teams. This is not football, where the team only has a handful of games to straighten things out. With 37 games left on the schedule, the Mean Green has plenty of time to straighten out things that didn’t work and maintain the things that did.
Caitlin Grimes Caitlin Grimes was undoubtedly UNT’s biggest offensive
weapon during the first week of the season. The junior catcher c ont i nue d on the pace BOBBY she has set LEWIS during her career with four hits, each for extra bases. After a relatively quiet first game, Grimes broke the Appalachian State game wide open with a three-run home run in the fourth inning that all but sealed 6-0 victory for the Mean Green. Obviously, Grimes will not continue to lead the team in home runs, RBI and total bases, but if she stays even half as hot as she is right now from the plate, pitchers will begin to pitch around her, which means only good things for UNT’s offense.
Pitchers The team’s only veteran in the circle this season will be sophomore Brittany Simmons, who showed her worth in the team’s season-opening extrainning victory of Cal State Bakersfield.
It took UNT 11 innings to get the job done, but when the offense managed to outduel Cal State Bakersfield, the Mean Green had the same pitcher in the circle as they did when the game began. Simmons’ 11 inning day was the most in her career and the second-most in school history. While Simmons’ performance was great, the team’s other three pitchers weren’t far behind her. In her first career start, redshirt freshman Ashley Kirk pitched five shutout innings in the team’s shutout victory over Appalachian State. Senior Mallory Cantler, who hasn’t pitched in a regular season game since high school, contributed two innings of relief and didn’t give up any runs. True freshman Lauren Poole struggled the most in two appearances with a 9.33 ERA. Like the pitching staff as a whole, it will take Poole a while to translate her game from high school to the NCAA level. UNT will be back in action on Friday when it takes on No. 21 Nebraska from Lovelace Stadium.
DENTON THRIFT STORE 708 W. University - Denton Center
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