Women’s Basketball Heads North for Road Tilt at Illinois

DENTON, Texas – The UNT women's basketball team will leave the state of Texas for the first time in the 2025-26 season to face Illinois Sunday at 2 p.m. CT in the State Farm Center.

The last time North Texas (6-3) took the floor, Megan Nestor delivered a performance for the ages with 34 points and 31 rebounds to lead the Mean Green over Texas Southern. Nestor's performance made national headlines as she became just the third Division I player since 1981 to post a 30-point, 30-rebound game. Nestor was named the American Conference Player of the Week and an Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's National Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).

Illinois will present a different challenge for Nestor and the Mean Green in the frontcourt with a pair of underclassmen in Berry Wallace and Cearah Parchment combining for 15.3 rebounds per game. Wallace also leads the team in scoring at 16.8 points per game.

The Fighting Illini defeated Missouri 70-62 on the road Wednesday to improve to 9-1 on the season. They have been especially good at home with a perfect 7-0 record thus far and winning by an average margin of 32.1 points at the State Farm Center.

North Texas is 1-2 against Power Four programs this season, defeating SMU 58-55, before falling to Texas Tech and No. 24 Oklahoma State. UNT's defense has held firm in all three contests, allowing just 66 points per game. The Mean Green held SMU and Texas Tech under their season scoring average by over 10 points, while Oklahoma State was held to 73 points after entering the game at 94.9 points per game.

Sunday's matchup will be streamed on B1G+ with Scott Beatty and Josh Melvin on the call. The game can also be heard on the Varsity Network app with Sam Kaman.

WHAT 2 WATCH 4
• North Texas will leave the state of Texas for the first and only time during the nonconference slate.
• Illinois will be the fourth Power Four opponent for the Mean Green this season. UNT took down SMU on the road earlier this season before falling to Texas Tech and OSU.
• Megan Nestor made national headlines with her 34-point, 31-rebound performance against Texas Southern, and earned the American Conference Player of the Week

MEGAN THE HISTORY MAKER
• Megan Nestor had one of the great performances in NCAA history on Dec. 6 against Texas Southern with 34 points and 31 rebounds. She also added four steals and went 17-of-22 from the field.
• Her 31 rebounds shattered the school record and the American Conference record for single-game rebounds.
• She became just the third player since 1981-82 to post a 30-point, 30-rebound game in Division I.
• Nestor outrebounded the Texas Southern team that entered the game No. 11 in the country in rebounding.

A WIN WOULD...
• Improve North Texas to 7-3 on the year
• Tie the series with Illinois at 1-1
• Mark UNT's first victory over a Big Ten school since defeating Michigan 85-72 on Dec. 4, 1993
• Give the Mean Green two wins over major conference teams in the same season for the first time since 2011-12.

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