After not trailing up until the five-minute mark of the third period, the North Texas women’s basketball team (9-13, 3-7 Conference USA) collapsed against Middle Tennessee (16-7, 10-2 C-USA) falling 80-60.
North Texas concluded the third quarter with a lead, however, the fourth belonged to the Lady Raiders as they began the period on a 16-to-0 run. They finished the quarter with a 24-to-4 advantage to give the Mean Green their third straight loss.
“Right now, we’re playing about 30 minutes of a game the way we’re supposed to,” head coach Jalie Mitchell said. “The other — I can’t even explain. We have to figure out to put a 40-minute game together.”
North Texas held a lead for nearly the entire first half and shot 57 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the 3-point line. They would end the game shooting 46 percent from the field and 36 percent from three.
The Lady Raiders took advantage of 14 North Texas turnovers and returned them for 20 points. They also won the battle from the free-throw line going 83 percent on 10-of-12 shooting, while the Mean Green went 6-of-15 for 40 percent.
“We weren’t able to push the pace as much as [the first half],” Mitchell said. “We didn’t get as many stops. We went away from what was working. We didn’t hit shots and that affected our energy.”
Freshman guard Anastasia Hayes put in 33-points for the Lady Raiders on 14-of-25 shooting.
Senior post player Anisha George led North Texas in scoring with 14 points in 24 minutes on 7-of-10 shooting. Freshman guard N’Yah Boyd and sophomore guard Charlene Shepherd both managed to score in the double-digits with 11 and 10 points.
UP NEXT: The Mean Green will take on Alabama-Birmingham (15-8, 7-4 C-USA) at the Super Pit.
Featured Image: Freshman guard Randi Thompson dribbles the ball before passing it to another UNT player on Feb. 6th, 2020. Image by Ryan Cantrell
Article Originally Published by on North Texas Daily
Source: North Texas Daily
