DENTON – North Texas women's basketball erased a double-digit deficit in 60 seconds to pull within a point of Old Dominion late and had a chance a to win, but the game-winning shot would not fall as the Mean Green lost, 72-71, to the Monarchs Thursday night inside The Super Pit.
 
Anisha George recorded her fifth double-double of the season with game-highs of 24 points and 13 rebounds. Terriell Bradley tallied 15 points, while Madison Townley and Velma Mitchell each added 10 for UNT (10-10, 3-5 C-USA). The Mean Green outrebounded ODU (16-5, 7-2 C-USA) 42-to-30, and dished out 15 assists compared to 10 by the Monarchs, but North Texas was stung by 17 turnovers.
 
"When you lose by one, 17 turnovers is a big number," head coach Jalie Mitchell said. "That's more chances that we had to win or to widen the gap, and we didn't take advantage of it."
 
Trailing 71-61 with 1:17 to play, Mitchell hit a 3-pointer from the right side, and Trena Mims sank a jumper from the right elbow to make it a five-point contest with 45 seconds remaining. ODU made one of two tries from the free throw line before Bradley tossed up a deep 3 from the top that dropped through the net for a one possession game with 29 seconds left. 
 
A scramble on the floor led to a jump ball with the possession belonging to the Mean Green. A North Texas timeout preceded two free throws by Bradley to cut the ODU lead to 72-20 with 17 seconds on the clock. UNT forced a turnover in the back court to set up a game-winning situation. With the clock winding down, Bradley took the ball from the top into the lane but was inadvertently met by a teammate which threw the final attempt off of the mark.
 
Townley opened the scoring for UNT with a pair of jumpers, and George connected inside for an early 6-0 advantage. Mims sent a deep pass to Deja Terrell for a 10-6 lead, but ODU's Maggie Robinson made a 3-pointer, jumper, and layup to close the quarter and put the Monarchs up, 13-10.
 
Grace Goodhart sent a quick pass to George underneath for a layup, and George continued to dominate inside with back-to-back buckets while drawing fouls. Bradley drove hard to the hoop from the left side for a layup and also drew a foul to put UNT up, 26-23. Mitchell hit a 3 from the right side to extend the lead to six on the next offensive possession. The Monarchs scored before the halftime buzzer to pull within 33-29.
 
George took a touch pass from Goodhart on the opening play of the third quarter and laid it in to push the lead back to six, and a 3 by Brittany Smith kept North Texas ahead, 40-34, at the 7:27 mark. That lead dissipated as Old Dominion went on an 18-7 run to finish the quarter and take a 52-47 lead.
 
"We had some defensive miscues. They turned it up and were able to go really hard on us and get some big buckets," Mitchell said. "We are now officially through conference play and we need to take one game at a time."
 
The Mean Green come back to The Pit Saturday to face Charlotte at 3 p.m.