Trip west begins Thursday for Blue Raiders

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee women’s basketball team begins a two-game road swing through the Sun Belt West Division at 5 p.m. Thursday when it plays at North Texas in Denton, Texas. It marks the Blue Raiders’ first contest on the road against the Mean Green in The Super Pit since 2009.

Middle Tennessee brings an 11-game winning streak into the game, currently tied for the seventh longest nationally. The Blue Raiders sit atop the league’s East Division with a 9-0 SBC mark as part of an overall 17-5 ledger.

Seven-straight victories in the series have propelled MT to a 12-4 all-time advantage against North Texas, including three consecutive 100-point outings during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 campaigns. Middle Tennessee netted a school-record 119 in the 2010 regular-season meeting in Murfreesboro.

The Blue Raiders currently boast two of the top-three scorers in the conference for league-games only, as sophomore Ebony Rowe ranks second with 17.7 points per game, a shade above junior Kortni Jones’ 17.6 points per game third-place mark.

One or both members of the pair are among the league’s top three in nine of 13 different statistical categories during conference play, helping Middle Tennessee to remain the last unbeaten in league action.

North Texas enters the contest having won four of its last five to improve to 13-9 overall and 6-3 in the Sun Belt under first-year head coach Karen Aston. Aston, who took over the Mean Green program after four years at Charlotte, has led the team to the NCAA’s top turnaround thus far after NT posted just five wins a year ago.

Jasmine Godbolt (13.8 ppg) and Tamara Torru (11.4) provide the offense with a pair of double-digit scorers, while also ranking as the team’s top-two rebounders with 7.7 and 7.6 per game, respectively.

Dick Palmer will have all the action live on the Blue Raider Network on WMOT (89.5 FM) and WGNS (1450 AM, 100.5 FM, 101.9 FM).

In addition, 2012 Sun Belt Conference Tournament booklets are now on sale at the Middle Tennessee athletic ticket office. Cost per booklet is $83 and includes a ticket to all eight sessions of the Sun Belt Championships, March 3-6, in Hot Springs, Ark. Fans can purchase booklets by calling 1-888-YES-MTSU or visiting goblueraiders.com.

Also, Blue Raider fans are encouraged to take a short basketball survey by the Middle Tennessee athletic marketing office. The survey can be found here.

Follow the Blue Raiders on Twitter @MTAthletics for continued updates.