DENTON – North Texas women's basketball outshot and won the rebounding battle over Western Kentucky on Senior Day, but the Mean Green were defeated 71-66 by the Lady Toppers Saturday inside The Super Pit.
 
UNT (14-13, 7-8 C-USA) hit 48 percent of their shots compared to 44 percent from WKU (16-13, 10-5 C-USA) and grabbed 43 boards as the Lady Toppers totaled 24. The last time the Mean Green lost while outshooting their opponent was Nov. 28 in a 73-66 loss at SMU. UNT struggled from outside the arc with a 1-for-9 showing with the single 3-pointer made a new season low.
 
"Our defense could have been a lot better," head coach Jalie Mitchell said. "Giving up 34 free throws is a lot. We did not take care of the ball very well; it's uncharacteristic. I wanted to send the seniors out better than that."
 
Terriell Bradley led the Mean Green scorers with 19 points. Charlene Shepherd and Anisha George each registered a dozen, while Madison Townley added 10. Callie Owens grabbed eight rebounds for career and game-high honors.
 
A Bradley layup knotted the contest at 64-all with 2:48 to play before the teams traded free throws. A WKU travel handed the ball back to UNT with 1:39 on the clock, but the Lady Toppers drew a shooting foul and converted both shots from the line for a two-point advantage. Each side then missed a shot in the paint with the Mean Green securing a defensive rebound and calling a timeout to advance the ball with 20 seconds remaining. UNT stepped on the sideline during the ensuing play, forcing them to foul on the defensive end. WKU hit one-of-two to lead by three as North Texas called another timeout to set up a possible game-tying play. A final turnover with four seconds to go sealed the UNT loss.
 
"They challenged us to keep them out of the paint. We gave them what they wanted by not making the adjustments we needed to make defensively," Mitchell said. 
 
The Mean Green struggled soon after the tip by committing four straight turnovers. Bradley got UNT back on track by flinging up a successful shot as the shot clock expired and sinking four straight free throws for a 16-9 lead. Shepherd scored six of her points in the latter part of the second quarter, including a fast break layup with 11 seconds left until the half, to put UNT up 30-24. 
 
The Lady Toppers scored six straight in the third quarter to pull ahead 49-43 before the Mean Green made their run. UNT converted their final seven field goals of the period, six of which were layups, to take a 55-50 lead heading into the last quarter.
 
"We  still have a lot of basketball to play. As long as there is ball left to play, we can always bounce back," Mitchell said.
 
The Mean Green wrap up the regular season Thursday at UTEP with an 8 p.m. CST tip.