CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte women’s basketball will play inside Halton Arena for the final time during the regular season Saturday when it plays host to North Texas at 7 p.m. After the game, fans are invited to stick around for the annual Senior Night festivities as the Niners will honor the careers of
Alexis Alexander and
Kira Gordon.
CHARLOTTE 49ERS
(18-10, 11-6 C-USA)
Head coach:
Cara Consuegra (Iowa, 2001)
Fifth season
90-63 at Charlotte and overall
Assistants:
Joanne Aluka-White, fourth season
Randi Henderson, first season
Nicole Woods, third season
Jena Jessup (DOBO), second season
NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN
(10-17, 5-12 C-USA)
Head coach: Jalie Mitchell
First season
10-17 at North Texas and overall
Assistants: Bobby Brasel (Assoc. HC)
Aisha Stewart
Kasondra Foreman
Opponent profile: North Texas • Charlotte concludes the regular season with Senior Night against North Texas Saturday evening inside Halton Arena.
• The 49ers own a 4-0 all-time series lead over the Mean Green after picking up an 82-70 triumph in the earlier season meeting in Denton, Texas, the highest scoring game of the series.
• This year’s contest featured senior
Kira Gordon hitting the 1,000-point mark on her first basket. She had entered the tilt with 999 career points.
• Freshman
Laia Raventós tallied 19 points in the matchup, a then-career high, and helping her secure her first Conference USA Freshman of the Week honor two days later.
• The two programs began playing in 2013-14, the first year both were members of Conference USA. North Texas was a member of the Sun Belt prior to making the league move.
• The Mean Green are coached by one of their former players, Jalie Mitchell, who is in her first season with the program. She is the third, and final, first-year head coach Charlotte faces in league action this season.
• Mitchell previously served as an assistant coach for Karen Aston, the former 49ers head coach, both at North Texas and Texas prior to returning to her alma mater.
• The Mean Green are one of five C-USA foes the Niners has faced two times this season.
WHERE TO FIND THE GAME ONLINE STREAM/TV Charlotte49ers.tv RADIO Charlotte49ers.com Josh Feldman, play-by-play STUDENT RADIO RadioFreeCharlotte.com Jared Allen, Trevor Wilt LIVE STATS Charlotte.statbroadcast.com TWITTER @49erGameDay
Niner Nuggets • Charlotte caps regular-season action with a 7 p.m. Saturday tip against North Texas inside Halton Arena. The 49ers will recognize the accomplishments of
Alexis Alexander and
Kira Gordon after the game concludes as part of the annual Senior Night festivities.
• Alexander and Gordon represent members of head coach
Cara Consuegra’s first recruiting class after she assumed control of the program. It is the second set of seniors to play all four of their collegiate campaigns during Consuegra’s tenure, joining last year’s group of
Ayanna Holmes,
Olivia Rankin and
Hillary Sigmon. Those three were recruited to Charlotte by the previous staff and head coach Karen Aston.
• The Niners clinched the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Conference USA Championships with the 68-63 triumph over Rice March 3. Charlotte is locked into the No. 4 spot and cannot move up or down with the results of Saturday’s action that concludes regular-season play across the league.
• The No. 4 seed gives Charlotte a double-bye in the quarterfinal round, which will take place March 10 inside UAB’s Bartow Arena. The tournament officially begins March 8 with two games, followed by four more March 9. The 49ers are joined by regular-season champion and No. 1 seed UTEP, along with Middle Tennessee and WKU, with securing the double-bye. The Blue Raiders and Lady Toppers currently are tied for the No. 2 and No. 3 spots and will be determined following Saturday’s games.
• Charlotte’s No. 4 seeding is its highest as a Conference USA member since the Niners won the league regular-season crown in 2003, assuring them of the No. 1 spot. The 49ers, who were picked to place sixth in the preseason poll, were the No. 6 seed in their first year back in the conference in 2014 and the No. 8 seed last season.
• Head coach
Cara Consuegra picked up career win No. 90 with the March 3 triumph over Rice inside Halton Arena. She is only of three coaches to reach the milestone and is quickly approaching her boss, current director of athletics Judy Rose, for second place on the program’s all-time wins list. Rose accumulated 93 victories as Charlotte’s first coach from 1976-82.
• The 49ers torched the net for a 72.7 percent conversion rate during the first half of the March 3 win against Rice, the best percentage from the floor in the opening 20 minutes this season. Charlotte finished at 52.8 percent, its seventh time this year making at least one-half of its field goal attempts and the 28th overall time during Consuegra’s five seasons.
• The Niners competed in their 200th overall contest as a member of Conference USA March 3 against Rice. The 200 games include both regular season and tournament action. Charlotte is in its third year back in the league and 13th overall in Conference USA after serving as a charter member from 1995-96 through 2004-05 before rejoining prior to the 2013-14 campaign.