Women's Basketball

9:39 p.m. - Looking back at tonight's game, what a gutsy performance by a great group of seniors. All five that got into the game reached double figures, including a game-high 18 from Dominique Johnson. The East's No. 1 squad awaits the Mean Green in Florida Atlantic. Everyone who was at the Super Pit remembers that the Owls ended NT's 17-game home win streak in on Feb. 3 with a 72-55 victory over the Mean Green.

9:18 p.m. - The Mean Green take down Troy 83-69 to advance to the second round of the Sun Belt Basketball Tournament.  After the game, Coach Johnny Jones, George Odufuwa, and Dominique Johnson spoke to the media.

7:31 p.m. - North Texas has scored the first five points of the second half, giving the Mean Green a 48-38 lead. Josh White's three a moment ago forced Troy to use a timeout.

7:11 p.m. - The Mean Green have taken the lead back, now up 40-36 as we approach halftime. Dominique Johnson has 11 for North Texas

6:47 p.m. - North Texas has struggled here in the early going, trailing 22-13. Troy is 9-17 from the field in the early going to build their advantage

6:09 p.m. - Warmups are over and the Mean Green is headed to the locker room one last time before the 6:30 tip off. Tonight's starting lineups ... North Texas - White, Thompson, Shorter, Hogans, Odufuwa ... Troy - Weathers, Taylor, Lee Tombs, Cunningham.

6:00 p.m. - George Dunham interviews Coach Johnny Jones for the Mean Green Radio Network.

5:35 p.m. - Jacob Holmen, out for the year with a hand injury, is rocking a bow tie for the festivities. Take a look!

4:45 p.m. - The other three women's games for Day 1 are all finished, with Arkansas State defeating FAU 66-52, UL-Monroe over Troy 60-51, and South Alabama downing UL-Lafayette 58-53.

We now have a little under two hours until the Mean Green men take on Troy at 6:30.  So to get you through the down time, let's take a look back at the Pep Band Spectacular last night, featuring bands and spirit squads from all the Sun Belt schools.  We gave a Flip camera to a band member, and he talked to cheerleaders, dancers, band members, fans, and even had a frightening moment when he was "attacked" by something that has intrigued us all for years...

At every event like this, one of the most popular locations is the gift shop.  Here's a look at the Sun Belt merchandise available here in the Summit Arena...

3:15 p.m. - Coach Shanice Stephen's postgame press conference.

1:54 p.m. - The women fall 81-66 to Western Kentucky. All-Conference selection Denetra Kellum had 17 points and five rebounds for the Mean Green. The Men take on Troy at 6:30 p.m. tonight, but we won't be going anywhere between games. Stay tuned for more updates from Hot Springs!

1:51 p.m. - Laura McCoy just hit a three to give her ten points in the game, and the Mean Green now have four players in double figures. The Mean Green still trail 79-64 in the waning moments of the game.

1:43 p.m. - North Texas trails 73-58 with 3:40 left in the ballgame. Western Kentucky is having a great game shooting the ball, which is the difference in the game. The Lady Toppers are shooting 52.8% right now, compared to the Mean Green's 39.0%

1:39 p.m. - Before today's game, Wright Waters presented North Texas senior guard Denetra Kellum with her award for earning a place on the All-Sun Belt Conference Third Team.

1:31 p.m. - North Texas has three players with double figures in points already. Kasondra Foreman and Jasmine Godbolt reached double figures for the third straight game, and Denetra Kellum now has her second straight game with double figures.

1:24 p.m. - One of our esteemed Mean Green Basketball Band members has taken fashion tips from Lady Gaga and came decked out in a costume of green & white pom poms. Awesome school spirit!

1:20 p.m. - It adds so much to the atomsphere at a conference tournament when both schools bring their bands, cheerleaders and mascots. Props to the both North Texas and Western Kentucky for bringing all of their spirit groups, who have done an excellent job entertaining the crowd during timeouts this afternoon.

12:42 p.m. - Jasmine Godbolt just found Denetra Kellum for a 3-pointer that put the Mean Green on top 28-25 with 2 minutes left in the first half. Another upset in the making for the Mean Green? They've won a first-round game in each of the last two years.

12:17 p.m. - Here's a look inside the lockerroom before the game and what Coach Stephen's message was to her team.

11:57 a.m. - Macayla Landry, a local fifth grader, just rocked the National Anthem! Game time.

11:45 a.m. - It's quite a "Who's Who" of Mean Green fans in attendance for today's women's game. President V. Lane Rawlins is here along with Board of Regent C. Dan Smith and a couple of hundred North Texas fans. 

11:38 a.m. - Only Shanice Stephens can turn a Division I basketball game into a red carpet affair. I would easily nominate both of our coaching staffs for the Sun Belt's Best Dressed award, but it's tough to top coach Stephens. For the ladies that would actually care, it's a green, black and white number with matching shoes and necklace.

11:09 a.m. - The women's warmups have begun, and we are 41 minutes from tip off. If the ladies shoot like this in the game they will be tough to beat. It's been a pretty inspired warm up, with the coaching staff calling the ladies in for a quick pep talk on multiple occasions. 

10:10 a.m. - It's gameday for both the men's and women's basketball teams!  To get things started, here's a short video from Friday showing conference officials preparting the Summit Arena and the Convention Center for the tournament.