Thursday, January 5
Denton
6:30 PM CT
University of North Texas
-49,12 CUSA
84
vs
76
WKU
-48,12 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Western Ky.
17
25
17
17
76
North Texas
24
14
23
23
84
Johnson Posts Career Night as UNT Defeats WKU for First C-USA Victory
1/5/2023 10:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Sophomore from Killeen, Texas, sets career-highs with 27 points and 10 rebounds
DENTON, Texas (Jan. 5, 2023) – Sophomore Aniyah Johnson had a career-high 27 points and 10 rebounds to post her first career double-double and lead North Texas to an 84-76 win over Western Kentucky Thursday night inside the Super Pit.
Playing at home for the first time since Nov. 27, UNT had four players score in double figures for the first time this season. Quincy Noble scored 24, Kendall McGruder had 14 and Jaaucklyn Moore chipped in 11 to help the Mean Green earn their first win in Conference USA play this season.
Johnson was efficient throughout the night, going 11 for 13 from the floor and 5 of 6 from the free throw line to join Tommisha Lampkin as the second UNT player to post a double-double this season.
The Mean Green won the game with a strong second half, out-scoring the Lady Toppers 23-17 in both the third and fourth quarters and closed the game on an 18-9 run to improve to 4-9 this season and 1-2 in C-USA play.
As a team, UNT shot a season-high 57.7 percent from the floor and scored a season-best 84 points in the win.
To open the game, North Texas started things off with a 7-0 run highlighted by four points from Johnson and another three by Noble.
The Mean Green stretched the lead to as many as 11 after Jordyn Carter hit a driving layup to go up 24-13, but WKU bridged the first and second quarters with a 12-2 run to cut the deficit down to one with 6:29 left in the first half.
The Lady Toppers then took their first lead of the game by scoring 11 of 13 points late in the half to take a 42-38 lead into the locker room.
Early in the third quarter, UNT re-took the lead with a quick 10-1 run that took just over two minutes of game action to make the score 50-46.
The teams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the quarter as the lead changed hands five times in the final six minutes of the third quarter.
With the score 67-66 in favor of WKU just over halfway through the fourth, the Mean Green took hold of the lead for good when Noble and McGruder hit back-to-back 3-pointers to take a seven-point edge with 3:30 to play.
Down the stretch, UNT kept the Lady Toppers at arms-length and hit four straight free throws in the final 10 seconds to take home the eight-point victory.
The Mean Green outscored WKU 24-10 in fastbreak points and held a 40-30 edge in points in the paint.
Quoting Coach Mitchell
"I'm really proud of our team. We got up 10 early, they fought back with rebounding and making some threes and I was happy with how we came back with energy. We started to do whatever it took. They had the rebounding edge early, but it wasn't like that in the second half. It was huge to finish the way that we did. I thought Aniyah brought great energy. I thought Jordyn brought great energy. All five of us on the floor, we were just locked in as a team."
Quoting Aniyah Johnson
"I had a lot of confidence going into tonight. A lot of my teammates and coaches were checking on me throughout the week and helping me lock in for the game. The coaches stressed to me that I was really going to be needed this week with Misha being out. And then Misha was doing a lot of talking to me throughout practices this week and the game. She kept telling me she was proud of me so that felt great to hear and gave me confidence."
Next Up
UNT returns to the court Saturday afternoon when they take on Middle Tennessee State at 3:30 p.m. inside the Super Pit.
Playing at home for the first time since Nov. 27, UNT had four players score in double figures for the first time this season. Quincy Noble scored 24, Kendall McGruder had 14 and Jaaucklyn Moore chipped in 11 to help the Mean Green earn their first win in Conference USA play this season.
Johnson was efficient throughout the night, going 11 for 13 from the floor and 5 of 6 from the free throw line to join Tommisha Lampkin as the second UNT player to post a double-double this season.
The Mean Green won the game with a strong second half, out-scoring the Lady Toppers 23-17 in both the third and fourth quarters and closed the game on an 18-9 run to improve to 4-9 this season and 1-2 in C-USA play.
As a team, UNT shot a season-high 57.7 percent from the floor and scored a season-best 84 points in the win.
To open the game, North Texas started things off with a 7-0 run highlighted by four points from Johnson and another three by Noble.
The Mean Green stretched the lead to as many as 11 after Jordyn Carter hit a driving layup to go up 24-13, but WKU bridged the first and second quarters with a 12-2 run to cut the deficit down to one with 6:29 left in the first half.
The Lady Toppers then took their first lead of the game by scoring 11 of 13 points late in the half to take a 42-38 lead into the locker room.
Early in the third quarter, UNT re-took the lead with a quick 10-1 run that took just over two minutes of game action to make the score 50-46.
The teams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the quarter as the lead changed hands five times in the final six minutes of the third quarter.
With the score 67-66 in favor of WKU just over halfway through the fourth, the Mean Green took hold of the lead for good when Noble and McGruder hit back-to-back 3-pointers to take a seven-point edge with 3:30 to play.
Down the stretch, UNT kept the Lady Toppers at arms-length and hit four straight free throws in the final 10 seconds to take home the eight-point victory.
The Mean Green outscored WKU 24-10 in fastbreak points and held a 40-30 edge in points in the paint.
Quoting Coach Mitchell
"I'm really proud of our team. We got up 10 early, they fought back with rebounding and making some threes and I was happy with how we came back with energy. We started to do whatever it took. They had the rebounding edge early, but it wasn't like that in the second half. It was huge to finish the way that we did. I thought Aniyah brought great energy. I thought Jordyn brought great energy. All five of us on the floor, we were just locked in as a team."
Quoting Aniyah Johnson
"I had a lot of confidence going into tonight. A lot of my teammates and coaches were checking on me throughout the week and helping me lock in for the game. The coaches stressed to me that I was really going to be needed this week with Misha being out. And then Misha was doing a lot of talking to me throughout practices this week and the game. She kept telling me she was proud of me so that felt great to hear and gave me confidence."
Next Up
UNT returns to the court Saturday afternoon when they take on Middle Tennessee State at 3:30 p.m. inside the Super Pit.
Team Stats
WestKy
UNT
FG%
.349
.577
3FG%
.304
.353
FT%
.400
.750
RB
47
36
TO
16
15
STL
11
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
27
FGM
11
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
24
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Women's BasketballForward
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's BasketballGuard
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