Despite having a lead for the majority of the game, North Texas (7-9, 1-3 Conference USA) wasn’t able to close it out against Florida Atlantic (8-7, 2-2 C-USA), losing 84-78 in double overtime.
It seemed to be a tale of two halves for the Mean Green. In the first half alone, they shot 46 percent from the floor, including 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. At one point they were up by 15, but Florida Atlantic found a way to crawl back and make it a close score of 35-29 going into the half.
For the second half, shots weren’t falling for North Texas as they were held to 25 percent from the floor, including 1-10 from downtown.
North Texas led 63-57 after freshman point guard N’yah Boyd made a layup with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth. Florida Atlantic answered back with a 6-0 run including the game-tying score with 12 seconds left. The Mean Green failed to secure the win with a game-winning layup of their own, thus sending the game into overtime.
In the first overtime, North Texas managed to jump out to a 71-67 lead with just 18 seconds remaining, but Florida Atlantic was able to come back and force another overtime after a game-tying shot from freshman guard Lotta Vehka-Aho.
During the second overtime, both teams exchanged back-to-back buckets before Florida Atlantic went on an 8-3 run to close out the game. Key mistakes ultimately proved to be a big factor in the loss.
“I’m proud of how hard we played, but there were some plays down the stretch where we didn’t execute well enough to win,” head coach Jalie Mitchell said in a press release. “We missed too many free throws and allowed them too many second chance points, but we still had a chance to win in regulation. We just didn’t take care of the ball.”
This will mark the Mean Green’s third straight loss, their longest streak this season.
Freshman guard Randi Thompson led the team with a career-high 25 points, including four three-pointers. Boyd would finish with 16 points in her fifth career start, while junior Callie Owens led the team in rebounding with a career-high of 16 to go along with 12 points.
Next Up: North Texas will return home on Thursday to take on Southern Miss (10-4, 2-1 C-USA) at 7 p.m.
Featured Image: Redshirt junior Callie Owens looks to pass the ball inside to Mean Green teammate Madison Townley against Texas-Arlington on Nov. 15, 2019. Image by Zachary Thomas.
Article Originally Published by on North Texas Daily
Source: North Texas Daily