Saturday, February 29
Huntington, WV
12 PM
University of North Texas
11-17, 5-11CUSA
77
at
69
Marshall
11-16, 6-10CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
North Texas
20
27
23
7
77
Marshall
11
20
19
19
69
UNT holds off Marshall for road win
2/29/2020 3:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – N'Yah Boyd dropped 24 points and Anisha George recorded her second straight double-double to lead North Texas to a 77-69 win at Cam Henderson Center.
With FIU losing to Charlotte, UNT (11-17, 5-11 C-USA) officially punched its ticket to the Conference USA Tournament in nearby Frisco.
Saturday's win was the first time North Texas beat Marshall (11-16, 6-10 C-USA) since head coach Jalie Mitchell's first season at the helm. It also marked the first road win for the Mean Green since Jan. 23 at UTSA.
"We did everything that we wanted to in the first three quarters," Mitchell said. "It's interesting that when the fourth quarter came, the shots that we had been making just weren't going in. We talked at halftime about staying aggressive and getting to the rim, and I wish we would've done that more during that run in the fourth quarter. Nonetheless, we did what we had to do to get the win."
George finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Seven of her 10 rebounds came on the offensive end, where UNT outrebounded Marshall 18-5. North Texas scored 13 second chance points off of its 18 offensive rebounds.
Summer Jones scored 12 points on 4 of 8 from the floor. Charlene Shepherd added eight points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Boyd got the Mean Green) rolling in the first half with an exceptional performance from the 3-point line. The Mesquite-native finished the opening half with 19 points on a perfect 5 of 5 from beyond the arc. Her five 3-pointers are a new career high.
"We just wanted to come out with a high energy today," Boyd said. "I was feeling pretty bouncy."
As a team, North Texas made seven treys in the first half, which is the most since a win over North Dakota State on Nov. 24, 2018.
Boyd's performance combined with a gritty effort on the offensive boards allowed the Mean Green to go on multiple lengthy runs in the second and third quarters to build a 70-50 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Then, the game started to take a bit of a turn. UNT went cold from the field as Marshall began to heat up from the perimeter. The Thundering Herd went on a 19-0 run in a six minute, 24-second span during the fourth period to close the North Texas lead to three points with 3:03 remaining.
However, redshirt junior Madison Townley stepped up and stopped the bleeding with a mid-range jump shot on the next offensive possession. After a defensive stop, Townley delivered again with jump shot from the free throw line to put the nail in the coffin.
"I just told them that 'this is our moment,'" Mitchell said about her timeout late in the game. "It was our moment in the game to make adjustments. Madi [Townley] hit two huge buckets for us and really calmed us down there late. I was just glad we were able to group together and withstand that run."
Up next, North Texas will enter its final week of regular season play with a road game at Middle Tennessee on Thursday before hosting UTEP on Saturday at The Super Pit.
With FIU losing to Charlotte, UNT (11-17, 5-11 C-USA) officially punched its ticket to the Conference USA Tournament in nearby Frisco.
Saturday's win was the first time North Texas beat Marshall (11-16, 6-10 C-USA) since head coach Jalie Mitchell's first season at the helm. It also marked the first road win for the Mean Green since Jan. 23 at UTSA.
"We did everything that we wanted to in the first three quarters," Mitchell said. "It's interesting that when the fourth quarter came, the shots that we had been making just weren't going in. We talked at halftime about staying aggressive and getting to the rim, and I wish we would've done that more during that run in the fourth quarter. Nonetheless, we did what we had to do to get the win."
George finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Seven of her 10 rebounds came on the offensive end, where UNT outrebounded Marshall 18-5. North Texas scored 13 second chance points off of its 18 offensive rebounds.
Summer Jones scored 12 points on 4 of 8 from the floor. Charlene Shepherd added eight points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Boyd got the Mean Green) rolling in the first half with an exceptional performance from the 3-point line. The Mesquite-native finished the opening half with 19 points on a perfect 5 of 5 from beyond the arc. Her five 3-pointers are a new career high.
"We just wanted to come out with a high energy today," Boyd said. "I was feeling pretty bouncy."
As a team, North Texas made seven treys in the first half, which is the most since a win over North Dakota State on Nov. 24, 2018.
Boyd's performance combined with a gritty effort on the offensive boards allowed the Mean Green to go on multiple lengthy runs in the second and third quarters to build a 70-50 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Then, the game started to take a bit of a turn. UNT went cold from the field as Marshall began to heat up from the perimeter. The Thundering Herd went on a 19-0 run in a six minute, 24-second span during the fourth period to close the North Texas lead to three points with 3:03 remaining.
However, redshirt junior Madison Townley stepped up and stopped the bleeding with a mid-range jump shot on the next offensive possession. After a defensive stop, Townley delivered again with jump shot from the free throw line to put the nail in the coffin.
"I just told them that 'this is our moment,'" Mitchell said about her timeout late in the game. "It was our moment in the game to make adjustments. Madi [Townley] hit two huge buckets for us and really calmed us down there late. I was just glad we were able to group together and withstand that run."
Up next, North Texas will enter its final week of regular season play with a road game at Middle Tennessee on Thursday before hosting UTEP on Saturday at The Super Pit.
Team Stats
UNT
MAR
FG%
.460
.472
3FG%
.421
.455
FT%
.440
.643
RB
42
26
TO
15
15
STL
8
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
8
3FGM
5
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
Point Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Post
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
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