Angela Ortega will be serving in her first year as Director of Women's Basketball Operations for The University of Texas. Ortega spent last year as an assistant to head coach Karen Aston at North Texas. Together, Aston and Ortega tripled the Mean Green's victory total in one season, as UNT went 15-16 during the 2011-12 season after winning just five games the previous year. Prior to her stint at North Texas, Ortega spent four seasons as an assistant at Charlotte under Aston, where the 49ers reached the postseason in four consecutive seasons, including appearances in the 2009 NCAA Tournament and the 2011 WNIT Final Four. Ortega began her coaching career at North Texas where she spent 14 seasons as an assistant coach and one as associate head coach and helped develop two of the greatest players in school history in Jalie Mitchell and Rosalyn Reades. During her first tenure at Denton, Ortega assisted North Texas to its most successful period in school history, including three conference division titles and two postseason tournament appearances in the WNIT in 2001 and 2002. In 2001-02, the Mean Green had a school record 21 wins and went a perfect 12-0 at home. In 1998-99 North Texas recorded only the second 20-win season in school history with a 20-8 mark and another perfect season at home. In all, North Texas won 77 games during the four-year stretch from 1998-2002. As a recruiting coordinator at North Texas, Ortega was known for her ability to locate and recruit top players for North Texas. Ortega first came to North Texas in 1992 after teaching English at Mabank (Texas) High School. She also served as an assistant coach for the basketball, volleyball and track teams during the 1991-92 school year. The previous two campaigns, Ortega served as a graduate assistant at Northwestern State, where she had an impressive playing career and earned a bachelor's degree in physical education with a minor in English in 1990. A starting guard who helped guide the Lady Demons to 38 victories and a berth in the NCAA Tournament during her two seasons on the team (1987-89), Ortega averaged only one turnover per game and finished her career as the school's 10th all-time leading free throw shooter. Ortega transferred to Northwestern State from Trinity Valley Community College (1985-87), where she competed on a team that was ranked as high as second nationally. Honored as a selection to the Kodak All-District and all-region team her sophomore year with the Lady Cardinals, she averaged 15 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while steering Trinity Valley to a 26-5 record. A native of Tyler, Texas, Ortega graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1984. |
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