Monday, March 11
Fort Worth, TX
6 PM
University of North Texas
23-8,13-5AAC
59
vs
61
No. 10 Rice
17-14,9-9AAC
1
2
3
4
F
Rice
18
7
17
19
61
North Texas
15
9
16
19
59
Women’s Basketball Falls in AAC Tournament to Rice, 61-59
3/11/2024 9:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Jaaucklyn Moore’s 3-pointer rims out at the buzzer
FORT WORTH, Texas – The UNT women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 61-59 defeat to Rice Monday in the quarterfinal round of the 2024 American Athletic Conference Championship.
It was a tight game for 40 minutes, similar to the first meeting between the two teams that UNT won just nine days ago on March 2.
The teams were tied six times during the game and exchanged the lead eight times, including twice in the final minute of play.
UNT took a 59-58 lead on a Tommisha Lampkin layup with 59 seconds to play. Rice regained the lead on its next possession with a layup of its own from Destiny Jackson. Jackson led the Owls with 16 points on the night.
The Mean Green would have another chance to take the lead after Desiree Wooten stole the ball and dished it to Ereauna Hardaway who was fouled on a fast break. Hardaway was shaken up on the play, which brought DesiRay Kernal into the game to shoot the free throws. One of the nation's leaders in free throw attempts and makes this season, Kernal uncharacteristically missed both attempts.
After a Rice timeout the Mean Green forced a five-second violation on the inbounds play that gave UNT the ball once again with 17.1 seconds to play and a chance to take the lead. A North Texas turnover resulted in Rice's Jazzy Owens-Barnett converting one of her two attempts from the charity stripe.
With 2.7 seconds to play, UNT advanced the ball past half court where Jaaucklyn Moore's 3-pointer rimmed out on a clean look at the basket.
The Mean Green were plagued by 19 turnovers and 11 offensive boards by the Owls. North Texas also went 5-of-12 from the free throw line.
Dyani Robinson led North Texas with 15 points, while Lampkin had 14 points and 10 rebounds, marking her 12th double double of the season.
The Mean Green will now await their postseason fate, which will be determined following the conclusion of conference tournaments this week.
Quoting Head Coach Jason Burton
Thought on the game:
"Big credit to Rice with how they played and how physical they were. We were looking for calls a lot of the time instead of being the ones to initiate the contact. Nonetheless I'm extremely proud of how we played and how we fought. We made plays down the stretch that allowed us to have a chance to win the game."
It was a tight game for 40 minutes, similar to the first meeting between the two teams that UNT won just nine days ago on March 2.
The teams were tied six times during the game and exchanged the lead eight times, including twice in the final minute of play.
UNT took a 59-58 lead on a Tommisha Lampkin layup with 59 seconds to play. Rice regained the lead on its next possession with a layup of its own from Destiny Jackson. Jackson led the Owls with 16 points on the night.
The Mean Green would have another chance to take the lead after Desiree Wooten stole the ball and dished it to Ereauna Hardaway who was fouled on a fast break. Hardaway was shaken up on the play, which brought DesiRay Kernal into the game to shoot the free throws. One of the nation's leaders in free throw attempts and makes this season, Kernal uncharacteristically missed both attempts.
After a Rice timeout the Mean Green forced a five-second violation on the inbounds play that gave UNT the ball once again with 17.1 seconds to play and a chance to take the lead. A North Texas turnover resulted in Rice's Jazzy Owens-Barnett converting one of her two attempts from the charity stripe.
With 2.7 seconds to play, UNT advanced the ball past half court where Jaaucklyn Moore's 3-pointer rimmed out on a clean look at the basket.
The Mean Green were plagued by 19 turnovers and 11 offensive boards by the Owls. North Texas also went 5-of-12 from the free throw line.
Dyani Robinson led North Texas with 15 points, while Lampkin had 14 points and 10 rebounds, marking her 12th double double of the season.
The Mean Green will now await their postseason fate, which will be determined following the conclusion of conference tournaments this week.
Quoting Head Coach Jason Burton
Thought on the game:
"Big credit to Rice with how they played and how physical they were. We were looking for calls a lot of the time instead of being the ones to initiate the contact. Nonetheless I'm extremely proud of how we played and how we fought. We made plays down the stretch that allowed us to have a chance to win the game."
Team Stats
Rice
UNT
FG%
.379
.472
3FG%
.350
.444
FT%
.571
.417
RB
36
36
TO
16
19
STL
13
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Guard
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/ Women's BasketballForward
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