FRISCO – Terriell Bradley sank two free throws with seven seconds remaining on her way to a game-high 16 points, capping a 49-46 North Texas win over Southern Miss Wednesday in the first round of the 2019 Air Force Reserve C-USA Championships at The Star.
 
UNT (15-14, 7-9 C-USA) and Southern Miss (17-13, 9-7 C-USA) each had their share of scoring woes as the teams combined to shoot 31 of 111 from the floor for 27.9 percent. Madison Townley anchored the Mean Green defense by providing team highs of seven rebounds and three blocks. With the victory, North Texas has now won its opening round game of the Conference USA Championship each of the last four seasons.
 
"It was a hard fought game," head coach Jalie Mitchell said. "We knew it would be. Southern Miss was going to fight for 40 minutes, and, possession by possession, we wanted to get stops."
 
With 40 seconds remaining and North Texas clinging to a 47-45 lead, the Lady Eagles hit the first of two free throws. The second attempt was off the mark, although Southern Miss was able to grab back-to-back offensive boards, but missed two shots before Velma Mitchell came up with a rebound. UNT called timeout and advanced the ball to half court to set up the offense, and Bradley was fouled to place her at the line for her final two free throws.
 
"I'm probably forever going to hang my hat on defense for situations like this. Defense and free throws are an everyday thing," Mitchell said.
 
The offense was slow coming for each side as the Lady Eagles gathered their first points at the 6:18 mark of the contest after the teams combined to start 0 of 15 from the field. North Texas missed their first 13 shots before Bradley knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing with 2:18 remaining in the first quarter to cut the Southern Miss lead in half at 6-3. The teams combined to shoot 12 percent from the field in the first quarter at 4 for 33.
 
An 11-0 UNT run carried into the second quarter and included buckets inside from Charlene Shepherd, Deja Terrell and Anisha George. Bradley sank a 3 from the top of the key for a 19-9 Mean Green advantage with three minutes to go until the half, and Callie Owens made a layup at the buzzer on a long pass from Townley for a 26-14 lead.
 
Owens banked in a shot from deep with 3:43 to play in the third to keep North Texas ahead at 35-27, but eight straight points from the Lady Eagles knotted the game at 35-all. Terrell earned two trips to the line and went 2 for 4 give the lead back to the Mean Green eight seconds into the final quarter. A huge three by Mitchell from the left wing with 6:36 on the clock extended the margin to 40-36, but Southern Miss crept back to within a single point on four occasions before Bradley made her final pair of free throws.
 
"TB (Bradley) did exactly what she's been doing for us for three years," Mitchell said.
 
The Mean Green take on 24th-ranked and top-seeded Rice Thursday in the quarterfinals at 11 a.m.