ULM at Mean Green

About the Mean Green
UNT dropped a 66-55 decision at Utah State Monday. Anisha George led the way with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Callie Owens and Destinee McDowell each produced 11 points. George continues her dominance inside the paint for North Texas by averaging a double-double of 12.9 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting over 65 percent from the field. McDowell is second on the team in both categories with averages of 10 points and 7.2 boards. The Mean Green are putting up 60.7 points per contest and allowing 58.3 while outrebounding their opponents by 5.1.

About the Warhawks
ULM has struggled early on this season with an overall record of 1-7 with the lone win coming against Northwestern State Nov. 18. The Warhawks hosted Louisiana in an exhibition contest Tuesday and dominated in the 84-40 victory. Lauren Fitch averages team-highs of 14.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.4 steals. Amber Thompson puts up 7.9 points, and Diamond Brooks adds 7.5. The Warhawks are being outscored 66.9-to-57.5 per game and are losing the rebounding battle, 39.5-to-33.3.

History between the squads
The Mean Green and Warhawks have faced each other 39 times in a three-decade span between the 1982-83 and 2012-13 seasons with ULM being the victor on 29 occasions. The most recent meetings resulted in a pair of Mean Green wins, a 79-51 drubbing inside The Super Pit Jan. 5, 2013, and a tight 76-75 game in Monroe Feb. 14, 2013.

Last time they met
MONROE, La. (Feb. 14, 2013) - North Texas' Loryn Goodwin landed seven 3-pointers on Thursday night against the Warhawks, none bigger than her clutch offering from the right wing with 3.3 seconds remaining that won a key Sun Belt road game for the Mean Green, 76-75.

Goodwin led all scorers with a career-high 28 points on 7-of-12 shooting from 3-point, including a pair of threes in the final three minutes that made the North Texas (10-15, 9-7 Sun Belt) comeback possible.

After starting the second half 1-of-4 from the floor, the Warhawks (7-17, 5-10 Sun Belt) connected on their next nine attempts to overcome an eight-point NT second half lead. ULM shot 62.5 percent from the floor in the second half and led by four points, 75-71, with 33 seconds remaining. That's when NT's Sara Stanley hit a put-back layup with 10 seconds to play, and ULM missed its free throw attempt on the next trip down the floor. Off the miss, Laura McCoy found Goodwin on a 30-foot outlet pass down the right sideline, and the freshman nailed the shot.

Not only did the freshman hit the game winner for NT, but she also found the school record book in the process. Just minutes into the game, Goodwin splashed home NT's 135^th 3-pointer on the year, which broke the 2001-02 squad's grip on the NT single-season record. Goodwin's seven 3-pointers moved her from sixth into third in school history for single-season 3-pointers. Goodwin, who has hit an NT record 14 threes in the last two games, is now only four 3-pointers behind Jill Medlock for the school record.

Alexis Hyder wasn't far behind Goodwin's point total with her sixth double-double of the season. Hyder tallied 23 points and 14 rebounds against ULM.

Callie's coming on
Redshirt junior Callie Owens is having her best year in a Mean Green uniform and the finest in her collegiate career. The Plano native is averaging 7.6 points (third best on the team) and 3.9 rebounds (fourth on the team) while shooting 42 percent from the field and 32 percent on 3-pointers. Owens tallied a UNT career-high 16 points against Louisiana Dec. 7 and has produced a double-digit scoring effort three times this season.

Non-con results
With a pair of non-conference games remaining, UNT looks to even its overall record to .500 before Conference USA play begins Jan. 2. Dating to the 2015-16 season, the Mean Green are 28-28 in games occurring before the start of C-USA play. The team posted a mark of 7-5 in pre-conference play last season.

Getting to the line
The Mean Green have made 175 trips to the free throw line this season compared to 118 from their opponents, nearly six more attempts per game. Beginning with the Rainbow Wahine Showdown Nov. 29-Dec. 1, where the team sank 44 of their 59 attempts (74.6 percent) during the three games, they have gone a combined 18-of-27 (66.7 percent) in the last two contests. The Mean Green did not begin the season at such a clip by only converting 46-of-89 (51.7 percent) throughout the first five games. Destinee McDowell has been almost a sure bet at the line by knocking down nearly 82 percent of her tries.

Three-point woes
The Mean Green have encountered shooting trouble from beyond the arc by connecting on just 21.3 percent of their attempts, ranking them 344 of the 348 teams in NCAA Division I. In 2018-19, the squad concluded the season at 30.4 percent while knocking down 5.1 per game compared to 3.9 this season.

By George!
Post Anisha George, the team's lone senior, is off to a hot start and already has recorded five double-doubles, the fifth-highest total in the country. The St. Croix, Virgin Islands, native is averaging 12.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Her 26 rebounds in the season opener against Mid-America Christian is still the single-game high by a player nationally this year – three higher than the next closest total. George is ranked 15^th nationally averaging 4.6 offensive rebounds per game. On the scoring end, George is converting 65.5 percent of her shots to lead Conference USA and rank ninth in the nation.

D-Mac attack
Forward Destinee McDowell (Fort Worth, Texas) is showing remarkable consistency through the beginning of her college career. The 5-foot-11 forward scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds in each of her first two college games, while also nabbing a game-high five steals in a win over Alcorn State. McDowell is averaging 10 points and 7.2 rebounds per game – second on the team behind George in both categories. She is also averaging 2.5 steals per game and nabbed eight takeaways in a win over Xavier (La.) Nov. 20 for the second-highest total in Mean Green history and the third best showing in NCAA Division I this season. She had her first career double-double in the loss to CSU Bakersfield with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

UNT versus top 25
The final opponent for North Texas at the Rainbow Wahine Showdown, No. 12 NC State, was the latest top 25 team to face the Mean Green in program history. Following the 76-65 UNT loss Dec. 1, the Mean Green are 1-18 all-time against the top 25 teams, with that one win coming over No. 17 Oklahoma in 2015 – Jalie Mitchell's first win as a college head coach.

Jackson leading team in minutes
As one member of UNT's heralded freshman class, point guard Jazion Jackson (Dallas) has been a staple on the floor for the Mean Green. She is averaging a team-high 29.0 minutes per game and is also the team leader in assists (2.5 per game). Jackson scored a game-high 12 points in the loss to CSU Bakersfield Nov. 12.

Put it on lockdown
Jalie Mitchell's teams have always been regarded for their defense, and that won't change this season. What will change is the pace at which the Mean Green play. Showing more pressure defense than in past seasons, thanks to a change in philosophy and some new assistant coaches. In the Nov. 11 win over Alcorn State, UNT's defense set a program record as it allowed just 31 points to the Lady Braves. The Mean Green then tied the mark Nov. 20 with the win over Xavier (La.). The previous low in a game was when UNT allowed 33 points in a win at New Orleans on Jan. 5, 2006. Through five games, the Mean Green are allowing 58.3 points per game.

Going for five
In her fifth season at the helm of her alma mater, head coach Jalie Mitchell, who is UNT's all-time leading scorer, has seen her teams improve their win totals in each of her four past seasons, culminating with last year's 18-win campaign that saw UNT make it to the final of the WBI postseason tournament, collecting the first postseason wins in program history along the way.

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Players Mentioned

Anisha George

Jazion Jackson

Destinee McDowell

Callie Owens