North Texas News

Women’s Basketball Falls at Charlotte 69-61

 Trailing by 20 points in the fourth quarter, UNT managed to rally back and cut the deficit down to as little as seven but could not complete the comeback as they fell 69-61 against Charlotte Saturday afternoon at Halton Arena.Jaaucklyn Moore, Quincy Noble and Kendall McGruder all scored in double figures in the loss as Moore had 17, Noble finished with 16 and McGruder chipped in 13. With the loss, UNT dropped to 9-15 overall and 6-8 in C-USA play.Trailing 4-2 early in the contest, UNT took its first lead of the game with a 10-2 run that featured five points from Kendall McGruder to make the score 12-6 just over halfway through the first.The Mean Green swelled the lead to as large as eight after Jaaucklyn Moore hit a jumper as a part of a quick six-point flurry to take a 20-12 lead with 1:46 left in the opening period.Charlotte answered back, however, as they scored the final two points of the first and the first 12 points of the second to take a 26-20 lead with 4:34 until halftime.Skip AdUNT cut the deficit back down to one after a layup from Tommisha Lampkin, but the 49ers were able to score eight points in the final 1:12 of the half including a pair of 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds to take a 36-27 lead into the break.Leading 40-31, Charlotte hit back-to-back 3-pointers to swell the lead to 15 at 46-31.The Mean Green were able to cut the deficit down to 10 by scoring seven of the next nine points, but the 49ers answered once again as they closed the third quarter on a 10-1 run to take a 58-39 lead into the fourth.Trailing by 20, the largest lead of the game for Charlotte, UNT cut the deficit back down to 11 with a 13-4 run capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers from McGruder.With the score 68-54 and 2:22 left to play, the Mean Green continued to fight as they rattled off seven straight points, four of which came from Moore, to make the score 68-61 with 43 seconds left to play.UNT was unable to complete the comeback, however, as they fell by eight to drop back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 19-21.The turnover battle was big in the loss for UNT as the 49ers doubled up the Mean Green 24-12 in points off turnovers. Additionally, UNT went just 8 for 16 from the free throw line while the 49ers finished 16 of 19 from the stripe.Quoting Coach Mitchell"I thought we let the game get away from us. The foul trouble hurt us in the first half from the standpoint of just who we needed to be on the floor for us. And then in the second half we let the game get too far out of hand. Offensively, we needed to finish better. We missed too many opportunities just like Thursday whether it be layups or from the free throw line. For us to cut into leads we have to make free throws. We lose all the momentum and energy when we step to the line and miss free throws like that."Next UpUNT returns to action Thursday night inside the Super Pit when they welcome LA Tech at 6:30 p.m. for Pink Out night.

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