North Texas Women Lose To Denver
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DENTON — For the third time in 2014, North Texas stormed out to an early halftime lead but failed to control the second half as it fell to former Sun Belt Conference foe Denver on Sunday afternoon. The visiting Pioneers outlasted the Mean Green, 63-55, handing North Texas its sixth single-digit loss this season.
“Again, this dead horse continues to get whipped,” head coach Mike Petersen said. “We had the ball right at the rim a ton. You can’t shoot 33-percent in a college basketball game and expect to beat somebody. This is not a sport that you can win missing a lot of layups, and right now we miss a lot of layups.”
The Mean Green shot its second highest amount of field goal attempts (64) this year, however only converted 21 baskets for 33-percent shooting from the field. In yet another rough offensive performance, North Texas missed 13 layups across both halves; with each one contributing to the final difference.
Trailing 35-34, with the ball at the 13:43 mark of the second half, senior BreAnna Dawkins – who scored 11 points – was charged with a technical foul for swinging her elbows. With no replay official on hand for the on-court referees to take a second look, the play stood as called; providing a turning point in the game. Denver converted a free throw and a basket on the ensuing inbounds play to begin a run to put the game away for good.
“There were still some performances to be happy about today,” Petersen
remarked. “I don’t care who you are, if you get 14 rebounds that’s a bunch. I thought Briesha did a great job on the glass.”
Although North Texas may not be generating points, they did generate extra shot opportunities. Led by senior Briesha Wynn’s stellar 15-point, 14-rebound individual performance, the Mean Green recorded team season highs in offensive rebounds (18), defensive rebounds (29) and total rebounds (47).
“At the end of the day, in this sport, this is a make or miss game,” Petersen concluded. “And until we start making more and missing less, we’re going to struggle. We’re going to keep working and we’re going to keep getting shots up; when we get a chance to hit a shot, we need to hit it.”
North Texas, winless at home since Feb. 19, 2014, will now hit the road for a three game stretch, delaying an opportunity to pick up its first home win of the 2014 campaign until Jan. 10 vs. Rice.
