University of North Texas
-56,00 CUSA
Louisiana at Monroe
2-8,0-0Sun Belt
Big fourth quarter leads Mean Green past ULM
12/20/2019 10:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
DENTON – After a sluggish start to the first three periods of Friday night's contest with Louisiana-Monroe, North Texas scored 14 consecutive points to begin the fourth period to pull away from the Warhawks during a 63-51 victory at The Super Pit.
"I didn't think we looked like ourselves until the fourth quarter," head coach Jalie Mitchell said. "I thought we had great energy from that group that started the fourth quarter. We were able to press and get some steals and turn that into points. That gave us some energy and momentum, and we just fed off of that."
Freshman forward Destinee McDowell served as a spark for the Mean Green in the second half. The Fort Worth native scored a career-high 21 points, with 15 of those coming in the second half. In the final two periods alone, McDowell converted 7 of 10 shots from the floor.
McDowell also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and tied a career high in assists (3). She also led North Texas (5-6) on the defensive end with five steals.
"She was much more aggressive tonight, and we need her to be," Mitchell said. "She's our second-leading scorer and rebounder. She's very capable of leading us in any category on any given night.
Freshman Jazion Jackson added another 10 points for the Mean Green. N'Yah Boyd – another freshman on this young North Texas roster – racked up four assists, her most since Nov. 20 in a win over Xavier (La.).
North Texas only held a 40-37 lead against a struggling ULM squad (1-8) heading into the final frame. And on a night where North Texas struggled to manufacture any momentum, the baskets finally began to fall.
The Mean Green went on a 14-0 run in the first four minutes and 11 seconds of the fourth quarter thanks to 10 quick transition points on several Warhawk turnovers.
UNT forced 19 turnovers on the night and scored 23 points off the Louisiana-Monroe mistakes.
Both teams struggled to score in the first half. The Warhawks went on two separate field goal droughts that lasted longer than five minutes, including an eight-minute drought in the second period. The Mean Green held ULM to a modest 13% from the field in the first half.
However, the Warhawks managed to stay in the game behind an efficient performance from the line. ULM knocked down 13 of 16 shots from the charity stripe in the first half, compared to just 4 of 6 from the Mean Green.
"What kept them in the game was free throws," Mitchell said. "They got some offensive rebounds, and we put them on the line way too much. We had to make some adjustments defensively to make sure that we weren't getting those foul calls and giving them free points. I felt like when we made them earn it in the half court, they didn't score as easily."
UNT ended the first half on an 8-0 run to take a 27-19 lead into the break. Jazion Jackson, Anisha George and Destinee McDowell each had 6 points and four rebounds after the first half.
McDowell opened up the second half with four consecutive points on a long two-point jump shot and a transition layup. She scored eight of North Texas' 13 third quarter points.
Just when it looked as if UNT would pull away, ULM combated with four made shots in the first three minutes of the third period, more field goals than they made the entire opening 20 minutes. The Warhawks went on a 10-0 run in a span of two and a half minutes to tie the game at 33-33 late in the third period.
The dominant fourth quarter propelled the Mean Green to one game under .500 with one final non-conference game remaining on Dec. 29, a 3 p.m. tilt with Texas A&M-Texarkana at The Super Pit.
