University of North Texas Athletics
Lady Eagles Fall To No. 14 Baylor, 78-85
11/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Reno, NV (11/16/01) - Despite suffering its first season-opening loss since 1994, the North Texas women’s basketball team (0-1) battled back from a 16-point halftime deficit to pull within two points of No. 14 Baylor (1-0) in a 78-85 setback on Friday night.
The game was the first of two North Texas outings in the Nevada Tournament. The Lady Eagles will face the loser of Memphis and Nevada tomorrow at 7 p.m. CST. Baylor was the first of four opponents on the Lady Eagles schedule this season currently ranked among the top 25 schools in the nation.
Down 40-56 at halftime, the Lady Eagles started the second half by going on a 24-12 run and pulling within four points of Baylor (64-68) with under 15 minutes remaining in the half. North Texas trimmed that margin to as little as two points, 72-74, with 6:26 left in the game, but got no closer.
The game was tied 22-22 at the 11:32 mark of the first half, but the Lady Bears were able to open up a double-figure lead with some small runs. Baylor held an 18-point advantage over North Texas on two separate occasions in the game, the latest being at the start of the second half. BU opened the final 20 minutes of action by scoring the first bucket to take a 58-40 lead.
"I think we got to the boards better and relaxed a little bit in the second half," said North Texas head coach Tina Slinker. "They played like a Top-25 team and we did a good job of responding in the second half. Our second half effort was incredible. We couldn’t have asked for more from this team and that is a positive this early in the season."
Senior forward Jalie Mitchell (Duncanville, Tex.) led three North Texas players in double-figure scoring with 29 points. Senior’s Karen Lee (Whitestown, Ind.) and Shannan Stephenson (Winchester, Tenn.) tacked on 12 and 10 points, respectively. Rosalyn Reades (Arlington, Tex.) registered seven rebounds and six assists, both team high’s.
Nicole Thomas (Dallas, Tex.) accounted for her only six points in the game off two timely three’s that helped start the Lady Eagles second half push.
"Nicole (Thomas) came in and gave us a spark with a couple of three-pointers," said Slinker. "Jalie (Mitchell) played an incredible game tonight. We just needed someone else to step up their game and that is what Nicole did."
