HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – North Texas women's basketball had difficulty overcoming a slow start and was held to under 10 points of offense in the first and fourth quarter in a 67-55 loss at Marshall Thursday inside Cam Henderson Center.
 
Grace Goodhart tied her season-high with 14 points for North Texas (11-11, 4-6 C-USA), while Trena Mims added 13. Deja Terrell provided a boost with eight rebounds to match her season-high and contributed seven points. UNT's leading scorers, Terriell Bradley and Anisha George, went a combined 5-of-22 from the floor for 12 points, 17 below their collective averages. 
 
North Texas did not register any fast break points on the evening but did manage 15 second chance points compared to just two by Marshall (14-9, 8-2 C-USA). 
 
"I thought we got off to a bad start," head coach Jalie Mitchell said. "Their transition buckets allowed them to keep the lead and the slow start hurt. We just have to do better."
 
A Goodhart three pulled the Mean Green within 56-51 at the 8:25 mark of the fourth quarter, but that ended being the last UNT field goal as the team could not connect on their final eight attempts.
 
The Mean Green fell into an early 9-0 hole before Brittany Smith scored the first UNT points on a jumper at the 6:32 mark. A putback by George followed by a jumper from the left baseline by Mims cut the deficit to 11-6, but seven straight Herd points upped the lead to 18-6.  
 
Marshall scored on a fast break to begin the second quarter to go up 20-9 before Terrell converted her own miss for two, and Mims knocked down a 3 from the right side to cut the lead to six. Goodhart then made a pair from deep in a two-minute span as UNT pulled within 25-22 midway through the period. George cut the margin to 28-26 with a bucket underneath, but the Herd put up eight unanswered points heading into halftime.
 
Another five straight points by Marshall to begin the third gave them their largest lead at 41-26. Terrell scored on a baseline drive to begin an 11-1 UNT run capped by a Goodhart floater in the lane to slice the deficit to 43-39 midway through the quarter before the Herd pulled ahead by eight heading into the final period.
 
"Trena and Grace stepped up tonight. Deja changed the game in the big way with her energy plays," said Mitchell.
 
The Mean Green head to Western Kentucky Saturday for a 2 p.m. CST tip.