FRISCO – Postseason play in the 2019 Air Force Reserve C-USA Championships came to an end for North Texas women's basketball in a 61-43 loss to 24
th-ranked and top-seeded Rice Wednesday in the quarterfinals at The Star.
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Madison Townley and
Terriell Bradley each scored a team-high 11 points, and Townley grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Mean Green (15-15, 7-9 C-USA). UNT and Rice (26-3, 16-0 C-USA) each recorded 20 field goals, but the Owls hit five 3-pointers compared to one from the Mean Green. Rice also sank 16 of 19 from the free throw line while North Texas was 2 of 6. UNT forced 17 Rice turnovers and turned those into 20 points.
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"Tough game for us," head coach
Jalie Mitchell said. "For the most part our team got the shots we wanted. If we could have put the ball in the hole a little more and kept them off of the line, we would have had a chance in the end. Super proud of my team as always and how we fought."
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Rice connected from deep on the first offensive possession of the game and retained the lead throughout.
Deja Terrell made a move in the paint for a bucket as UNT trailed, 11-8, with three minutes to play in the opening period.
Trena Mims then entered the contest and made an immediate impact by draining an elbow jumper and a pull-up 3 to keep North Texas within three points.
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A 3-pointer by C-USA Player of the Year Erica Ogwumike stretched the Rice lead to 26-17 six minutes into the second quarter before
Callie Owens made a jumper in the lane and Townley converted a three-point play to cut the deficit to 26-22 with 38 seconds to play before the half.Â
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Terrell provided valuable minutes in the post as All-Defensive pick
Anisha George was saddled with foul trouble. Terrell scored twice in the paint in the opening minutes of the second half to cut a double-digit Owl lead to 34-28 at the 7:26 mark. Rice knocked down a 3 and a layup to push the margin to 39-28 three minutes later and held an 11-point advantage until the end of the quarter.
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Bradley scored the first UNT points of the final period on a layup as the Mean Green trailed, 49-36. Four straight Rice points handed the Owls their largest lead of the contest at 58-38 with 4:17 to play.Â
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The Mean Green conclude the season with an overall mark of 15-15.
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