Saturday, January 21
Denton
2:00 PM CT
University of North Texas
-613,36 CUSA
74
vs
76
UAB
-108,27 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
UAB
9
11
33
23
76
North Texas
20
15
22
17
74
Women's Basketball Falls at Home Against UAB
1/21/2023 6:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball
UNT unable to hold onto 15-point halftime lead
DENTON, Texas (Jan. 21, 2023) – Leading by as many as 17 points in the second half, UAB rallied with a strong second half to take down UNT women's basketball 76-74 Saturday afternoon inside the Super Pit.
For the second straight game, the Mean Green had four players in double figures led by a 17-point, eight-rebound performance by Aniyah Johnson, but dropped to 6-13 overall and 3-6 in C-USA play.
After UNT went ahead 37-20 early in the second quarter, the Blazers outscored the Mean Green 56-37 over the final 19 minutes of the contest to improve to 10-8 overall and 2-7 in conference competition.
In addition to 17 points from Johnson, Jaaucklyn Moore added 16, Quincy Noble scored 13 and Kendall McGruder chipped in 12.
Leading 7-4 early in the first, UNT created separation with a 10-0 run that featured back-to-back 3-pointers from Moore and McGruder to take a 17-4 lead.
UAB answered with a quick 5-0 run to start the second quarter and cut the deficit back down to six at 20-14 with 7:37 left in the second quarter.
With the score 24-18, the Mean Green increased the intensity on both ends of the floor as they closed the half on an 11-2 run to take a 35-20 lead into the break.
UAB began their comeback with a quick 8-2 run early in the third that made the score 39-28. The Blazers were then able to cut the deficit down to four with eight consecutive points to close the quarter that included five points in the last four seconds of the period.
After Johnson hit a pair of free throws to grow the lead back to six, UAB hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 59, the first tie of the contest.
The Blazers would go on to take their first lead with 5:40 left to play after Denim DeShields knocked down a layup and drew a foul for the and-one to go on top 64-63.
UNT re-took the lead a pair of times down the stretch, going on top 68-67 with 3:28 left in the contest.
From that point on, UAB went on a 9-3 run thanks to a strong effort from the free throw line to take a 76-71 lead and seal the victory.
Quoting Coach Mitchell
"Disappointing loss, especially after the halftime lead that we had. I thought in the plays that we needed to come up with stops, they got buckets. And times we needed to come up with buckets we did not, or maybe we did and we got to the free throw line and didn't finish it. Two games in a row where we've missed too many free throws. Even though we had a 15-point lead at halftime, it didn't feel like it because we lost some of the momentum going into the break. And then coming out of halftime, I felt they had much more energy than us and you would have thought they had the lead."
Next Up
UNT returns to the court Thursday when they travel to San Antonio, Texas, to take on UTSA at 7:00 p.m.
For the second straight game, the Mean Green had four players in double figures led by a 17-point, eight-rebound performance by Aniyah Johnson, but dropped to 6-13 overall and 3-6 in C-USA play.
After UNT went ahead 37-20 early in the second quarter, the Blazers outscored the Mean Green 56-37 over the final 19 minutes of the contest to improve to 10-8 overall and 2-7 in conference competition.
In addition to 17 points from Johnson, Jaaucklyn Moore added 16, Quincy Noble scored 13 and Kendall McGruder chipped in 12.
Leading 7-4 early in the first, UNT created separation with a 10-0 run that featured back-to-back 3-pointers from Moore and McGruder to take a 17-4 lead.
UAB answered with a quick 5-0 run to start the second quarter and cut the deficit back down to six at 20-14 with 7:37 left in the second quarter.
With the score 24-18, the Mean Green increased the intensity on both ends of the floor as they closed the half on an 11-2 run to take a 35-20 lead into the break.
UAB began their comeback with a quick 8-2 run early in the third that made the score 39-28. The Blazers were then able to cut the deficit down to four with eight consecutive points to close the quarter that included five points in the last four seconds of the period.
After Johnson hit a pair of free throws to grow the lead back to six, UAB hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 59, the first tie of the contest.
The Blazers would go on to take their first lead with 5:40 left to play after Denim DeShields knocked down a layup and drew a foul for the and-one to go on top 64-63.
UNT re-took the lead a pair of times down the stretch, going on top 68-67 with 3:28 left in the contest.
From that point on, UAB went on a 9-3 run thanks to a strong effort from the free throw line to take a 76-71 lead and seal the victory.
Quoting Coach Mitchell
"Disappointing loss, especially after the halftime lead that we had. I thought in the plays that we needed to come up with stops, they got buckets. And times we needed to come up with buckets we did not, or maybe we did and we got to the free throw line and didn't finish it. Two games in a row where we've missed too many free throws. Even though we had a 15-point lead at halftime, it didn't feel like it because we lost some of the momentum going into the break. And then coming out of halftime, I felt they had much more energy than us and you would have thought they had the lead."
Next Up
UNT returns to the court Thursday when they travel to San Antonio, Texas, to take on UTSA at 7:00 p.m.
Team Stats
UAB
UNT
FG%
.475
.484
3FG%
.280
.462
FT%
.846
.571
RB
36
35
TO
12
12
STL
6
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's BasketballGuard
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