Thursday, January 19
Houston, TX
7 PM CT
University of North Texas
-612,35 CUSA
74
at
81
Rice
-134,44 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
North Texas
11
14
23
26
74
Rice
21
17
13
30
81
Second Half Comeback Falls Short for Women’s Basketball at Rice
1/19/2023 9:27:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Mean Green rally from 13-point halftime deficit, unable to complete the full comeback
HOUSTON (Jan. 19, 2023) – Trailing by 13 points at halftime, North Texas rallied all the way back to tie the game multiple times in the second half, but were unable to take the lead as they ultimately fell 81-74 Thursday night inside Tudor Fieldhouse.
The Mean Green got a game-high 20 points from Quincy Noble as well as a career-high 15 points from Jordyn Carter and another 17 by Kendall McGruder as they dropped to 6-12 overall and 3-5 in C-USA play.
Noble reached the 20 point milestone for the sixth time this season and UNT had four players in double figures for the third time this season.
After trading points in the early going, Rice created separation in the first quarter by getting going from 3-point range. The Owls hit three consecutive shots from beyond the arc as a part of an 11-3 run to grow the lead to 19-9.
Trailing 29-17, UNT rattled off six straight points, four of which came from Jordyn Carter, to cut the deficit back down to six with 3:40 left in the half.
The Mean Green had multiple players that found themselves in foul trouble in the first half, however, as Tommisha Lampkin, Aniyah Johnson, Kendall McGruder and Ereauna Hardaway all had two fouls in the first half.
Rice was able to take advantage, closing the first half on a 9-2 run to take a 38-25 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter belonged to the Mean Green, with UNT outscoring the Owls 23-13 in the frame.
After starting the period with six straight points, Rice answered and swelled the lead back to 12 at 44-32 with 6:11 left.
UNT climbed back into the contest with a 13-2 run that featured five points each from Noble and Kendall McGruder that tied the game at 46.
The Owls answered with five straight points and headed into the final quarter with a 51-48 lead.
In the fourth, both teams went back-and-forth that started with a 3-pointer from Jordyn Carter that tied things up, her first make from beyond the arc as a member of the Mean Green.
Much as they did all night, Rice responded with seven consecutive points to take a 58-51 lead with 8:07 left to play.
UNT was able to cut the deficit down to one after Noble and McGruder both hit 3-pointers to bring the deficit down to 62-61.
With the score 68-66 with 3:27 left in the contest, Rice scored five straight to swell the lead to seven points after a 3-pointer and a layup.
The Owls would go on to hit six straight free throws in the final 30 seconds of the contest to take home the 81-74 victory.
Rice shot 66.7 percent from the floor and 3-point range and were a perfect 8 for 8 from the line in the fourth quarter to seal the win and improve to 13-4 overall and 4-4 in C-USA competition.
Quoting Coach Mitchell
"I thought down the stretch we made some defensive mistakes and they capitalized on it. We have to be locked in defensively in those situations. We can't avoid those mistakes down the stretch when we're trying to make a comeback. We talked about it in our timeouts about how many stops could we string together but we couldn't get enough and gave up some easy shots. We put ourselves in a hole, but I was proud of the way we responded. Just didn't turn out in our favor tonight."
Next Up
UNT is back in action Saturday afternoon when they host UAB inside the Super Pit at 2:00 p.m.
The Mean Green got a game-high 20 points from Quincy Noble as well as a career-high 15 points from Jordyn Carter and another 17 by Kendall McGruder as they dropped to 6-12 overall and 3-5 in C-USA play.
Noble reached the 20 point milestone for the sixth time this season and UNT had four players in double figures for the third time this season.
After trading points in the early going, Rice created separation in the first quarter by getting going from 3-point range. The Owls hit three consecutive shots from beyond the arc as a part of an 11-3 run to grow the lead to 19-9.
Trailing 29-17, UNT rattled off six straight points, four of which came from Jordyn Carter, to cut the deficit back down to six with 3:40 left in the half.
The Mean Green had multiple players that found themselves in foul trouble in the first half, however, as Tommisha Lampkin, Aniyah Johnson, Kendall McGruder and Ereauna Hardaway all had two fouls in the first half.
Rice was able to take advantage, closing the first half on a 9-2 run to take a 38-25 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter belonged to the Mean Green, with UNT outscoring the Owls 23-13 in the frame.
After starting the period with six straight points, Rice answered and swelled the lead back to 12 at 44-32 with 6:11 left.
UNT climbed back into the contest with a 13-2 run that featured five points each from Noble and Kendall McGruder that tied the game at 46.
The Owls answered with five straight points and headed into the final quarter with a 51-48 lead.
In the fourth, both teams went back-and-forth that started with a 3-pointer from Jordyn Carter that tied things up, her first make from beyond the arc as a member of the Mean Green.
Much as they did all night, Rice responded with seven consecutive points to take a 58-51 lead with 8:07 left to play.
UNT was able to cut the deficit down to one after Noble and McGruder both hit 3-pointers to bring the deficit down to 62-61.
With the score 68-66 with 3:27 left in the contest, Rice scored five straight to swell the lead to seven points after a 3-pointer and a layup.
The Owls would go on to hit six straight free throws in the final 30 seconds of the contest to take home the 81-74 victory.
Rice shot 66.7 percent from the floor and 3-point range and were a perfect 8 for 8 from the line in the fourth quarter to seal the win and improve to 13-4 overall and 4-4 in C-USA competition.
Quoting Coach Mitchell
"I thought down the stretch we made some defensive mistakes and they capitalized on it. We have to be locked in defensively in those situations. We can't avoid those mistakes down the stretch when we're trying to make a comeback. We talked about it in our timeouts about how many stops could we string together but we couldn't get enough and gave up some easy shots. We put ourselves in a hole, but I was proud of the way we responded. Just didn't turn out in our favor tonight."
Next Up
UNT is back in action Saturday afternoon when they host UAB inside the Super Pit at 2:00 p.m.
Team Stats
UNT
Rice
FG%
.518
.483
3FG%
.316
.421
FT%
.588
.850
RB
31
30
TO
16
13
STL
8
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's BasketballGuard
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