North Texas Women Down Marshall
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DENTON, Texas – Alexis Hyder and Laura McCoy both came off the bench to post season highs and lead the North Texas women’s basketball team to a 63-50 conference victory against Marshall on Wednesday night at the Super Pit.
The Mean Green snaps a two-game losing streak and wins its first conference game of the season. The conference victory is the first-ever Conference USA league win.
“It came down to that critical stretch with eight minutes remaining, where we scored,” said North Texas head coach Mike Petersen. “What we did was put the game out of reach before it was the last possession.”
After being tied at the half, North Texas started the second period on a 17-9 run and did not look back. McCoy was instrumental in those opening minutes, hitting her first three baskets, including two 3-pointers.
“I was really happy for Laura and Alexis,” said Petersen. “They have been struggling. They were tremendous tonight. Laura has been struggling with her shot. When she starts making shots, it starts stretching things out.”
McCoy shot 5-for-10 from the field and was 3-for-8 from 3-point range to finish with 13 points. Hyder led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting.
North Texas started off the second half on the right foot, hitting four of its
first five baskets. A 7-0 run within a bigger 17-9 run led to an eight-point lead, 42-34. A third 3-pointer by McCoy gave North Texas a seven-point lead, 47-40, at 10:20.
Briesha Wynn led the Mean Green on 16-8 run to seal the win. The junior forward scored six of her 12 points in the spread. She recorded her second straight double-double and her third this season. Wynn led the Mean Green with 11 rebound. North Texas held a 41-37 edge in rebounds.
The Mean Green defense held the Herd to seven field goals and 30 percent shooting in the second half.
It did not look good for the Mean Green at the start of the game. The home team went 1-for-15 in the opening eight minutes. It took the Mean Green over 10 minutes to make two field goals.
Marshall, on the other hand, started off with a hot hand. The Herd hit five of its first eight field goals to take an 11-4 lead despite turning the ball over seven times.
In the final nine minutes of the first half, the shots for North Texas began to fall. After starting the first half by going 1-for-15, the Mean Green finished by going 8-for-17.
The 21-14 spread by the Mean Green allowed them to tie the game at the half, 25-25. McCoy gave North Texas a brief lead, 25-23, with a jumper at the 1:30 mark.
