DENTON – North Texas had a rough shooting day from beyond the arc and couldn't hold off a late fourth-quarter rally, as the Mean Green dropped their season opener, 61-59, to Mid-America Christian on Thursday afternoon.
 
Senior post Anisha George led the way for UNT (0-1), tying for a game-high 19 points and pulling down a game-high 26 rebounds, including 12 on the offensive glass, while adding three blocked shots. Freshman forward Destinee McDowell fell one rebound short of a double-double with 14 points and nine boards to go with two blocked shots.
 
"Anisha has two people boxing her out every possession but still ends up with 12 offensive boards," UNT head coach Jalie Mitchell said. "I wanted her to finish better around the basket. I thought she missed some easy ones she normally makes, but it's hard, on a day like, this to complain about 19 points and 26 rebounds."
 
While George and McDowell were having success near the rim, the Mean Green struggled from outside as they made just two of their 35 attempts from beyond the arc. Mid-America Christian, which entered the game averaging 99.67 points and 10 made 3-pointers per game over three wins, connected on 13 long-range shots on 29 attempts.
 
"I thought, when you're not shooting it well, to get to 35 3-pointers attempted is not what we want to do," Mitchell said. "We wanted to penetrate the zone some and step in and knock down some midrange shots. We wanted to take advantage of 31 offensive rebounds, and we missed way too many shots around the basket and missed more free throws than we made. We just didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had to win the game.
 
"On the defensive end, the adjustments – one thing we've said for three days is that they could shoot the ball," Mitchell added. "To allow them to get open looks – I'm fine with contested ones and fine with them making tough shots, that's understandable, but defensively we weren't where we needed to be."
 
Mitchell said there is no doubt in her mind the poor shooting performance was much more an outlier than what will be the norm this season, especially after she watched her team drain 10 3-pointers in Sunday's exhibition win over TWU.
 
"Oh yeah. No doubt," Mitchell said when asked if Thursday's stat line was uncharacteristic. "I know we've only had practice and an exhibition and scrimmages, but I haven't seen us shoot this bad. It's a first."
 
Ultimately, Thursday's loss will be something Mitchell believes her team can learn from, and the Mean Green will have their chance to bounce back when they return to the floor Monday night at 7 p.m., for a home game against Alcorn State. Tickets can be purchased here.
 
"You just do," Mitchell said, when asked how her team would bounce back. "With a young group, you have to tell them and teach them and coach them and fight the very next day. This is the first time, practice or game, where I've seen us shoot like this. I hope it's the last time we experience that. But I hope it's also a time they learn how important it is to fight back and handle adversity a lot better than we did today."
 
Tickets for the Alcorn State game can be found here, and any questions about tickets can be directed to TicketOffice@unt.edu or 940-565-2527.
 
QUICK HITS

•  Freshman guard Randi Thompson (Plano, Texas) made her Mean Green debut on Thursday and connected on first shot – a 3-pointer with 4:53 left in the first quarter.
• The Mean Green outrebounded Mid-America 62-39, with 31 UNT rebounds coming on both the offensive and defensive glass.
• Freshman point guard Jazion Jackson (Dallas) had nine points and led the team with four steals.