Thursday, January 2
Denton
7 PM
University of North Texas
-76,10 CUSA
61
vs
54
Western Kentucky
-84,01 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Western Ky.
9
9
20
16
54
North Texas
5
22
25
9
61
Photo by: Jon Mitchell
Shepherd dominates glass in win
1/2/2020 10:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Shepherd dominates glass in win
DENTON – North Texas women's basketball opened up Conference USA play with a 61-54 win over Western Kentucky, aided by a 22-2 run in the second quarter and a remarkable performance on the boards by Charlene Shepherd who finished with 10 points and 23 rebounds, Thursday night inside The Super Pit.
The Mean Green (7-6, 1-0 Conference USA) defense held WKU (8-4, 0-1 C-USA) to 22 points below their season average while the UNT offense came alive with a season-high 10 3-pointers. Randi Thompson came off of the bench to post a career-high 17 points, including five 3s, and Callie Owens added 13 points and eight rebounds. The 23 rebounds by Shepherd rank second all-time in program history.
"I am very proud of our team," head coach Jalie Mitchell said. "We dealt with a couple different things in that first quarter. It just seemed like the shots wouldn't fall for us, but I thought that we looked back at our experience from non-conference and made the adjustment of attacking the rim more, being more confident, relaxing on our shots. I thought everybody really contributed, and I was proud of how we owned the glass from the beginning."
A conference opening win seemed unlikely after the Mean Green began the contest with a 2-of-20 showing from the field. After the dismal 10 minutes, the offense came alive in the second quarter beginning with a pair of 3s from Thompson and another from Summer Jones to pull the Mean Green within 16-14 midway through. An and-one from Owens made it a one-point game before a drive by Trena Mims put UNT up, 19-18, at the 3:54 mark. Another 3 from Jones and a putback by Owens stretched the lead to 25-18, and Jazion Jackson made a jumper from the left side to close the first half on the 22-2 Mean Green run.
Owens continued the scoring for North Texas after the break with a 3 from the right baseline, and Jackson completed a left side drive for a 32-18 UNT lead. WKU then managed a field goal to break a seven-minute scoring drought before Thompson drained another shot from deep to extend the lead to 38-24 at the 5:45 mark. Owens nailed a 3 from the top and a step back jumper to give North Texas its largest lead at 52-33 with 1:33 to play in the third.
The Lady Toppers went on a 19-4 run to cut the margin to 56-52 with 2:38 to play. Jackson found Shepherd underneath for two, and Mims did the same on the next play, to push the lead to eight with 52 seconds remaining. WKU made a layup with 10 seconds remaining before Shepherd hit one from the line to secure her second career double-double.
"I felt like coming into this game, we were looked at as an underrated team against them," Shepherd said. "Obviously we were smaller. We had less players, but I felt like we had a bigger heart. It definitely gives us some momentum going forward."
The Mean Green continue conference play Saturday versus Marshall at 3 p.m. inside The Super Pit.
DENTON – North Texas women's basketball opened up Conference USA play with a 61-54 win over Western Kentucky, aided by a 22-2 run in the second quarter and a remarkable performance on the boards by Charlene Shepherd who finished with 10 points and 23 rebounds, Thursday night inside The Super Pit.
The Mean Green (7-6, 1-0 Conference USA) defense held WKU (8-4, 0-1 C-USA) to 22 points below their season average while the UNT offense came alive with a season-high 10 3-pointers. Randi Thompson came off of the bench to post a career-high 17 points, including five 3s, and Callie Owens added 13 points and eight rebounds. The 23 rebounds by Shepherd rank second all-time in program history.
"I am very proud of our team," head coach Jalie Mitchell said. "We dealt with a couple different things in that first quarter. It just seemed like the shots wouldn't fall for us, but I thought that we looked back at our experience from non-conference and made the adjustment of attacking the rim more, being more confident, relaxing on our shots. I thought everybody really contributed, and I was proud of how we owned the glass from the beginning."
A conference opening win seemed unlikely after the Mean Green began the contest with a 2-of-20 showing from the field. After the dismal 10 minutes, the offense came alive in the second quarter beginning with a pair of 3s from Thompson and another from Summer Jones to pull the Mean Green within 16-14 midway through. An and-one from Owens made it a one-point game before a drive by Trena Mims put UNT up, 19-18, at the 3:54 mark. Another 3 from Jones and a putback by Owens stretched the lead to 25-18, and Jazion Jackson made a jumper from the left side to close the first half on the 22-2 Mean Green run.
Owens continued the scoring for North Texas after the break with a 3 from the right baseline, and Jackson completed a left side drive for a 32-18 UNT lead. WKU then managed a field goal to break a seven-minute scoring drought before Thompson drained another shot from deep to extend the lead to 38-24 at the 5:45 mark. Owens nailed a 3 from the top and a step back jumper to give North Texas its largest lead at 52-33 with 1:33 to play in the third.
The Lady Toppers went on a 19-4 run to cut the margin to 56-52 with 2:38 to play. Jackson found Shepherd underneath for two, and Mims did the same on the next play, to push the lead to eight with 52 seconds remaining. WKU made a layup with 10 seconds remaining before Shepherd hit one from the line to secure her second career double-double.
"I felt like coming into this game, we were looked at as an underrated team against them," Shepherd said. "Obviously we were smaller. We had less players, but I felt like we had a bigger heart. It definitely gives us some momentum going forward."
The Mean Green continue conference play Saturday versus Marshall at 3 p.m. inside The Super Pit.
Team Stats
WestKy
UNT
FG%
.318
.318
3FG%
.105
.476
FT%
.769
.692
RB
39
53
TO
13
19
STL
8
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Point Guard
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's Basketball
Point Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's BasketballWBB Postgame Press Conference | UNT vs. UTA | WNIT 2nd round
Tuesday, March 25
WBB Postgame Press Conference | UNT vs. UAB
Saturday, March 01
Overtime Recap vs ECU | Mean Green WBB
Friday, February 28
Broadcast Highlights vs Charlotte | Mean Green WBB
Thursday, February 27