Saturday, January 4
Denton
3 PM
University of North Texas
-77,11 CUSA
59
vs
68
Marshall
-67,11 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Marshall
13
19
20
16
68
North Texas
12
12
16
19
59
Photo by: Jon Mitchell
Mean Green comeback falls short in loss to Marshall
1/4/2020 4:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball
DENTON – North Texas saw its three-game winning streak come to a close on Saturday after losing to Marshall 68-59 at The Super Pit.
The Mean Green (7-7, 1-1 C-USA) opened the game making just 6 of 28 shots from the field and committed eight turnovers in the first half. The offensive inefficiencies allowed Marshall – who started poorly from the field as well – to stay in the game until they found their offensive rhythm.
With three minutes left in the first half, the Thundering Herd knocked down two deep 3-pointers, which ignited a 22-5 run that put North Texas in a 19-point hole midway through the third quarter.
In the final 15 minutes, the Mean Green outscored Marshall 33-23 and even pulled within three points of the Thundering Herd with 2:49 remaining in the game. However, several missed free throws and a dagger 3-pointer from Marshall erased any chance of a comeback and gave UNT its first loss in league play.
"I wasn't pleased with the first 25 minutes," head coach Jalie Mitchell said. "After 25 minutes, I think you saw us playing like a different team with a different level of energy and effort. In my opinion, if we would've had that for 40 minutes, we would've had a different result."
For the second time this week, Charlene Shepherd was the highlight for the Mean Green. Shepherd scored a career-high 23 points while grabbing nine rebounds. The sophomore forward ended this week with 36 points and 31 rebounds in two games played. Shepherd was the only player who finished in double digits for the Mean Green.
Marshall (6-7, 1-1 C-USA) entered the contest ranked no. 2 in Conference USA in 3-point field goals made with 269. The Thundering Herd's success from deep continued against the Mean Green, as they made 10 three-pointers and shot 45.8% from beyond the arc against a usually-stout UNT defense.
Despite coming off its best 3-point shooting performance of the season, North Texas struggled to hit perimeter shots against the Thundering Herd, going 4 of 21 from the 3-point line.
"There were times I thought we needed to work the ball inside more and get some easier baskets," Mitchell said. "We settled for outside shots, and you can't really place your bet on outside success from previous games. We've got to put the ball on the floor, get to the rim and create shots for everybody else."
North Texas' offensive woes also took part at the free throw line. After starting out 9 of 10 from the charity stripe, the Mean Green converted just 10 of their final 19 free throws, including a 44.4% performance in the fourth quarter.
Marshall has now defeated North Texas in each of the past four seasons and leads the all-time series 6-3.
North Texas will continue conference play next week when they travel to the Sunshine State on Thursday for an 11 a.m. tilt with Florida International.
The Mean Green (7-7, 1-1 C-USA) opened the game making just 6 of 28 shots from the field and committed eight turnovers in the first half. The offensive inefficiencies allowed Marshall – who started poorly from the field as well – to stay in the game until they found their offensive rhythm.
With three minutes left in the first half, the Thundering Herd knocked down two deep 3-pointers, which ignited a 22-5 run that put North Texas in a 19-point hole midway through the third quarter.
In the final 15 minutes, the Mean Green outscored Marshall 33-23 and even pulled within three points of the Thundering Herd with 2:49 remaining in the game. However, several missed free throws and a dagger 3-pointer from Marshall erased any chance of a comeback and gave UNT its first loss in league play.
"I wasn't pleased with the first 25 minutes," head coach Jalie Mitchell said. "After 25 minutes, I think you saw us playing like a different team with a different level of energy and effort. In my opinion, if we would've had that for 40 minutes, we would've had a different result."
For the second time this week, Charlene Shepherd was the highlight for the Mean Green. Shepherd scored a career-high 23 points while grabbing nine rebounds. The sophomore forward ended this week with 36 points and 31 rebounds in two games played. Shepherd was the only player who finished in double digits for the Mean Green.
Marshall (6-7, 1-1 C-USA) entered the contest ranked no. 2 in Conference USA in 3-point field goals made with 269. The Thundering Herd's success from deep continued against the Mean Green, as they made 10 three-pointers and shot 45.8% from beyond the arc against a usually-stout UNT defense.
Despite coming off its best 3-point shooting performance of the season, North Texas struggled to hit perimeter shots against the Thundering Herd, going 4 of 21 from the 3-point line.
"There were times I thought we needed to work the ball inside more and get some easier baskets," Mitchell said. "We settled for outside shots, and you can't really place your bet on outside success from previous games. We've got to put the ball on the floor, get to the rim and create shots for everybody else."
North Texas' offensive woes also took part at the free throw line. After starting out 9 of 10 from the charity stripe, the Mean Green converted just 10 of their final 19 free throws, including a 44.4% performance in the fourth quarter.
Marshall has now defeated North Texas in each of the past four seasons and leads the all-time series 6-3.
North Texas will continue conference play next week when they travel to the Sunshine State on Thursday for an 11 a.m. tilt with Florida International.
Team Stats
Marsh
UNT
FG%
.458
.316
3FG%
.455
.190
FT%
.778
.655
RB
39
34
TO
16
12
STL
5
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
9
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Forward
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