HOUSTON – North Texas played Rice close after outscoring the Owls in the second quarter, but the Mean Green went without a field goal for nearly seven minutes after halftime before eventually falling, 64-52, Saturday afternoon inside Tudor Fieldhouse.
 
Terriell Bradley, returning from a two-game absence, scored a team-high 13 points as Grace Goodhart joined her in double figures with 10. Anisha George pulled down a career and game-high 14 rebounds while battling with Rice's 6-9 center, Nancy Mulkey. Brittany Smith handed out a game-high six assists for North Texas.
 
The Mean Green (10-7, 3-2 C-USA) struggled shooting below 32 percent (18-of-57) from the field, while Rice (14-3, 5-0 C-USA) was slightly better at 41 percent (22-of-54). The Owls recorded 42 rebounds whereas North Texas tallied 31, and UNT forced Rice into 17 turnovers while committing 14. Mulkey recorded six blocks at the expense of North Texas.
 
"We talked about rebounding being a key to game and not giving them second chance opportunities. The 16 second chance points is a big difference in the game. And that's a lot when you talk about it being a possession game," head coach Jalie Mitchell said. "Brittany made some good decisions. She was big for us and did a good job tonight."
 
Bradley opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers from the left wing to shrink a 13-point deficit to two, but the Owls quickly responded with a three of their own along with a steal and layup to extend the margin to 51-44 with 8:36 left to play. Two free throws and a bucket by the Owls pushed the lead to 11 before Smith hit a scooping layup, and Velma Mitchell went coast-to-coast to cut the margin to seven with 4:45 on the clock. The Mean Green then went scoreless for four minutes as Rice put nine straight points on the board to secure the win.
 
UNT took their first and only lead of the game at 4-2 on a left side drive by Grace Goodhart. The Owls built up a 19-11 advantage before Smith sank two free throws at the end of the first. Callie Owens scored five straight by way of a jumper and three from the left side to knot the contest at 21-all three minutes into the second quarter. Rice took a 31-23 lead with 2:13 remaining until the half before Madison Townley knocked down one from the line and Smith found George underneath to cut the margin to 31-26.
 
The Mean Green endured a significant scoring slump begin the second half by misfiring on their first 10 attempts from the field to to fall behind, 41-28, before Charlene Shepherd managed a jumper from the right baseline. Another bucket from Shepherd and a three by Owens from the left wing crept UNT back within 43-35 with 1:35 to go in the third.
 
Next up, the Mean Green travel to UAB Jan. 24 for an 11 a.m. tip.