After an efficient shooting night in Charlotte, North Carolina, the 49ers (16-7, 7-5 Conference USA) handed the North Texas women’s team (9-15, 3-9 C-USA) their ninth loss in conference play by a score of 72-59.
Charlotte’s offense was unwavering as they outshot the Mean Green 54 percent to 37 percent from the floor.
However, both teams struggled to get going early. The 49ers ended the first period on a 9-0 run and Charlotte managed to keep the lead through the first three quarters with the score being 59-39.
North Texas did shoot 50 percent from behind the 3-point line on 12 attempts while the 49ers shot 45 percent.
The Mean Green edged closer in the final period coming within nine points with three minutes remaining, however, the 49ers extended the gap and closed the game from there.
“We never stopped fighting,” head coach Jalie Mitchell said. “I’m proud of our team for that.”
The loss comes as the fifth straight for the Mean Green and the second consecutive game in which they were within single-digits with three minutes remaining.
“We just need to clean up some things on both sides of the ball,” Mitchell said. “We’ll get back to work tomorrow.”
Senior post player Anisha George and freshman point guard N’Yah Boyd led North Texas with 20 points and a career-high 25 points, respectively. Redshirt forward Madison Townley led the team with 11 boards and George grabbed seven boards for herself.
The Mean Green is now one loss away from last place in C-USA. However, they’ll look to wrap up their road trip on Saturday at the University of Old Dominion (21-3, 11-1 C-USA) who just knocked off Rice (16-7, 11-1 C-USA) for first-place in conference.
Featured Image: Senior post Anisha George shoots jumper over UAB defender and scores on Feb. 8, 2020. Image by Zachary Thomas