Saturday, January 25
El Paso
2 PM
University of North Texas
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UTEP
Photo by: Jordan Collard
Mean Green at UTEP
1/24/2020 11:05:00 AM | Women's Basketball
About the Mean Green
North Texas won back-to-back Conference USA contests for the first time this season with a 79-55 win at UTSA Thursday and a 74-69 overtime victory against Louisiana Tech Jan. 18 to move to 9-10 overall and 3-4 in Conference USA play. Anisha George averages team-highs of 13.1 points and 9.3 rebounds, and Destinee McDowell contributes 11.1 and 7.2, respectively. The Mean Green is putting up 65.7 points per contest and allowing 60.1 while outrebounding opponents by four.
About the Miners
UTEP suffered a 69-61 setback to league-leading Rice Thursday to drop to 4-2 in C-USA play and 11-6 overall. Katarina Zec leads the Miners in scoring at 13 points per game. Katia Gallegos tallies 9.6 and is tops in conference with 5.0 assists, while Ariona Gill totals 9.3 points to go along with a team-high 8.2 rebounds. UTEP leads the league in 3-point FG percentage defense (.235) and is second in scoring margin (+11.9), rebounding margin (+5.5), assists (15.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.8).
History between the squads
The Miners hold an 8-5 all-time advantage over the Mean Green with the first contest occurring during the 1980-81 season. UTEP has won five of the last eight, including last season's 59-51 defeat in El Paso.
Last meeting
EL PASO (March 7, 2019) – A poor shooting night from the outside troubled North Texas as the Mean Green fell 59-51 to UTEP Saturday night inside the Don Haskins Center to wrap up the 2018-19 regular season. UNT will play in the 2019 Air Force Reserve C-USA Basketball Championships beginning Wednesday as the ninth seed.
North Texas (14-14, 7-9 C-USA) struggled from the perimeter with a 5-of-34 showing, but Anisha George led the way in the paint with 19 points and game-high nine rebounds. Terriell Bradley and Charlene Shepherd each scored 10 as Bradley moved into a tie for fifth place in career scoring with 1,394 points. North Texas outscored the Miners (8-21, 5-11 C-USA) in the first and third quarters, but UTEP won the second period by a margin of 22-9.
The streak is broken
The Mean Green ended its four-game losing skid with the win over LA Tech Jan. 18 and gathered another victory Thursday at UTSA to improve to 3-4 in Conference USA. The 1-4 start in conference play was the toughest start North Texas has endured since the 2014-15 season where the team went 1-9 before picking up another win.
Working overtime
Two Mean Green contests within a week were decided by extra periods with an 84-78 double overtime loss at Florida Atlantic Jan. 11 and a 74-69 win over LA Tech Jan. 18 in Denton. North Texas is now 13-27 all-time in overtime games. Before the loss at Florida Atlantic, the Mean Green had won six straight contests involving extra periods. Last season, North Texas defeated Missouri State, 83-76, UNT's third win in program history inside The Super Pit in OT. Three seasons ago, North Texas pulled out wins in each of its four overtime contests and went one-for-one in 2017-18.
Taking Charge
An unofficial, but important, statistic kept by strength and conditioning coach Rick Lefebvre during contests is the number of charges taken by the Mean Green. Madison Townley is known for her grit and toughness on the hardwood and the numbers prove it as she leads the team in charges drawn with eight on the season in 13 games played. Randi Thompson and Charlene Shepherd have each collected four. In 2019-20, Townley took a total of 27 to lead the team.
Boards, boards, boards
The Mean Green have done a nice job of securing rebounds this season as they lead Conference USA and rank in the top 25 nationally in several categories: total rebounds (812, #10), rebounds per game (42.8 RPG, #22), and offensive RPG (15.3, #25). UNT is outrebounding their opponents by an average of four a contest.
The 63 rebounds collected against Texas A&M-Texarkana Dec. 29 ranks as the seventh-highest output in NCAA Division I this season. Anisha George's 26 against Mid-American Christian Nov. 7 is the best performance in NCAA Division I this season and also tied a UNT record. Charlene Shepherd recorded 23 against WKU Jan. 2 to sit third in the country and second all-time at UNT.
Doubling up
The Mean Green have already compiled 12 double-doubles in 2019-20, with half of them from Anisha George, two each from Charlene Shepherd and Destinee McDowell and Callie Owens. Last season, the team registered a total of seven – six from George and one by Madison Townley.
Getting to the line
The Mean Green has made 344 trips to the free throw line this season compared to 274 from their opponents – nearly four more attempts per game. Against Texas A&M-Texarkana, the team sank a season-best 16-of-18 (89 percent). Beginning with the Rainbow Wahine Showdown Nov. 29-Dec. 1 through the FIU contest Jan. 9, they had gone a combined 82-of-20 (68.2 percent) before faltering at Florida Atlantic Jan. 11 with a 22-of-38 (57.9 percent) showing. The Mean Green also struggled early on 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 83 percent of her tries.
Three-point woes
The Mean Green has encountered shooting trouble from beyond the arc by connecting on just 26.1 percent of their attempts, ranking them 322 of the 348 teams in NCAA Division I. The team had a breakout against WKU Jan. 2 by knocking down a season high 10-of-18 from deep, the seventh best performance in school history. In 2018-19, the squad concluded the season at 30.4 percent while knocking down 5.1 per game compared to 4.6 this season.
Start of C-USA play
The win over WKU Jan. 2 marked the second season in a row the Mean Green began conference play with a win. In 2018-19, the team compiled a 3-0 start in C-USA play for the first time in program history. Under head coach Jalie Mitchell, UNT also opened the conference slate with a victory in 2015-16.
Flurry of season-highs
The Mean Green closed out the non-conference schedule on a high note with a barrage of season team-highs in the convincing win over Texas A&M-Texarkana Dec. 29. The squad set season-highs in points (114), rebounds (63), field goal percentage (50.5), free throw percentage (88.9), assists (20) and steals (18) as well as a program-best 46 field goals against the Eagles.
Non-con results
UNT evened its overall record to 6-6 in non-conference with the dominant 114-54 win over Texas A&M-Texarkana Dec. 29. Dating to the 2015-16 season, the Mean Green is 29-29 in games occurring before the start of C-USA play. The team posted a mark of 7-5 in pre-conference play last season.
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.
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 60.1 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.
Last Mean Green outing
SAN ANTONIO (Jan. 23, 2020) – North Texas women's basketball improved to 3-4 in Conference USA play with a 79-55 win over UTSA, aided by Summer Jones dropping a career-high 21 points and Anisha George recording her sixth double-double of the season Thursday afternoon.
The win moved head coach Jalie Mitchell into second all-time in wins at North Texas.
North Texas had four players score in double figures. Jones with her 21, and George with 17 to go along with 12 rebounds. N'Yah Boyd added 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while Randi Thompson contributed 11 points.
North Texas won back-to-back Conference USA contests for the first time this season with a 79-55 win at UTSA Thursday and a 74-69 overtime victory against Louisiana Tech Jan. 18 to move to 9-10 overall and 3-4 in Conference USA play. Anisha George averages team-highs of 13.1 points and 9.3 rebounds, and Destinee McDowell contributes 11.1 and 7.2, respectively. The Mean Green is putting up 65.7 points per contest and allowing 60.1 while outrebounding opponents by four.
About the Miners
UTEP suffered a 69-61 setback to league-leading Rice Thursday to drop to 4-2 in C-USA play and 11-6 overall. Katarina Zec leads the Miners in scoring at 13 points per game. Katia Gallegos tallies 9.6 and is tops in conference with 5.0 assists, while Ariona Gill totals 9.3 points to go along with a team-high 8.2 rebounds. UTEP leads the league in 3-point FG percentage defense (.235) and is second in scoring margin (+11.9), rebounding margin (+5.5), assists (15.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.8).
History between the squads
The Miners hold an 8-5 all-time advantage over the Mean Green with the first contest occurring during the 1980-81 season. UTEP has won five of the last eight, including last season's 59-51 defeat in El Paso.
Last meeting
EL PASO (March 7, 2019) – A poor shooting night from the outside troubled North Texas as the Mean Green fell 59-51 to UTEP Saturday night inside the Don Haskins Center to wrap up the 2018-19 regular season. UNT will play in the 2019 Air Force Reserve C-USA Basketball Championships beginning Wednesday as the ninth seed.
North Texas (14-14, 7-9 C-USA) struggled from the perimeter with a 5-of-34 showing, but Anisha George led the way in the paint with 19 points and game-high nine rebounds. Terriell Bradley and Charlene Shepherd each scored 10 as Bradley moved into a tie for fifth place in career scoring with 1,394 points. North Texas outscored the Miners (8-21, 5-11 C-USA) in the first and third quarters, but UTEP won the second period by a margin of 22-9.
The streak is broken
The Mean Green ended its four-game losing skid with the win over LA Tech Jan. 18 and gathered another victory Thursday at UTSA to improve to 3-4 in Conference USA. The 1-4 start in conference play was the toughest start North Texas has endured since the 2014-15 season where the team went 1-9 before picking up another win.
Working overtime
Two Mean Green contests within a week were decided by extra periods with an 84-78 double overtime loss at Florida Atlantic Jan. 11 and a 74-69 win over LA Tech Jan. 18 in Denton. North Texas is now 13-27 all-time in overtime games. Before the loss at Florida Atlantic, the Mean Green had won six straight contests involving extra periods. Last season, North Texas defeated Missouri State, 83-76, UNT's third win in program history inside The Super Pit in OT. Three seasons ago, North Texas pulled out wins in each of its four overtime contests and went one-for-one in 2017-18.
Taking Charge
An unofficial, but important, statistic kept by strength and conditioning coach Rick Lefebvre during contests is the number of charges taken by the Mean Green. Madison Townley is known for her grit and toughness on the hardwood and the numbers prove it as she leads the team in charges drawn with eight on the season in 13 games played. Randi Thompson and Charlene Shepherd have each collected four. In 2019-20, Townley took a total of 27 to lead the team.
Boards, boards, boards
The Mean Green have done a nice job of securing rebounds this season as they lead Conference USA and rank in the top 25 nationally in several categories: total rebounds (812, #10), rebounds per game (42.8 RPG, #22), and offensive RPG (15.3, #25). UNT is outrebounding their opponents by an average of four a contest.
The 63 rebounds collected against Texas A&M-Texarkana Dec. 29 ranks as the seventh-highest output in NCAA Division I this season. Anisha George's 26 against Mid-American Christian Nov. 7 is the best performance in NCAA Division I this season and also tied a UNT record. Charlene Shepherd recorded 23 against WKU Jan. 2 to sit third in the country and second all-time at UNT.
Doubling up
The Mean Green have already compiled 12 double-doubles in 2019-20, with half of them from Anisha George, two each from Charlene Shepherd and Destinee McDowell and Callie Owens. Last season, the team registered a total of seven – six from George and one by Madison Townley.
Getting to the line
The Mean Green has made 344 trips to the free throw line this season compared to 274 from their opponents – nearly four more attempts per game. Against Texas A&M-Texarkana, the team sank a season-best 16-of-18 (89 percent). Beginning with the Rainbow Wahine Showdown Nov. 29-Dec. 1 through the FIU contest Jan. 9, they had gone a combined 82-of-20 (68.2 percent) before faltering at Florida Atlantic Jan. 11 with a 22-of-38 (57.9 percent) showing. The Mean Green also struggled early on 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 83 percent of her tries.
Three-point woes
The Mean Green has encountered shooting trouble from beyond the arc by connecting on just 26.1 percent of their attempts, ranking them 322 of the 348 teams in NCAA Division I. The team had a breakout against WKU Jan. 2 by knocking down a season high 10-of-18 from deep, the seventh best performance in school history. In 2018-19, the squad concluded the season at 30.4 percent while knocking down 5.1 per game compared to 4.6 this season.
Start of C-USA play
The win over WKU Jan. 2 marked the second season in a row the Mean Green began conference play with a win. In 2018-19, the team compiled a 3-0 start in C-USA play for the first time in program history. Under head coach Jalie Mitchell, UNT also opened the conference slate with a victory in 2015-16.
Flurry of season-highs
The Mean Green closed out the non-conference schedule on a high note with a barrage of season team-highs in the convincing win over Texas A&M-Texarkana Dec. 29. The squad set season-highs in points (114), rebounds (63), field goal percentage (50.5), free throw percentage (88.9), assists (20) and steals (18) as well as a program-best 46 field goals against the Eagles.
Non-con results
UNT evened its overall record to 6-6 in non-conference with the dominant 114-54 win over Texas A&M-Texarkana Dec. 29. Dating to the 2015-16 season, the Mean Green is 29-29 in games occurring before the start of C-USA play. The team posted a mark of 7-5 in pre-conference play last season.
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.
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 60.1 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.
Last Mean Green outing
SAN ANTONIO (Jan. 23, 2020) – North Texas women's basketball improved to 3-4 in Conference USA play with a 79-55 win over UTSA, aided by Summer Jones dropping a career-high 21 points and Anisha George recording her sixth double-double of the season Thursday afternoon.
The win moved head coach Jalie Mitchell into second all-time in wins at North Texas.
North Texas had four players score in double figures. Jones with her 21, and George with 17 to go along with 12 rebounds. N'Yah Boyd added 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while Randi Thompson contributed 11 points.
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Players Mentioned
Point Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Post
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
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