North Texas Daily

With 2:35 left to play, and North Texas down six points, freshman guard Lauren Holmes hit a mid-range jumper to cut Marshall University’s lead down to four points. On the ensuing possession, she found herself in position once again looking to cut the lead down to two.

She stepped to the free throw line, but this time, she missed two free throws. With the clock winding down, junior post Micayla Buckner was fouled with 1:13 remaining and went to the line to cut the deficit to two.

She missed both as well.

Meanwhile, the Thundering Herd sunk all four of their late free throws to secure the 62-54 win Saturday night at the Super Pit.

“It hurts because every free throw was basically in crunch time,” Mitchell said. “It was an opportunity to close the gap and make it a closer game. It could have turned in our favor if we knocked those down and gave us some more momentum.”

On paper, Marshall (9-19, 3-12) entered the game with the worst record in Conference USA. While North Texas (15-11, 6-8) came into Saturdays matchup winners of four in a row. After back-to-back 3-pointers from junior guard Terriell Bradley to open the game, it appeared the Thundering Herd were in for a long night.

However, Marshall struck back during the second quarter, holding North Texas to only four points. Marshall switched from man-to-man defense to a zone defense and it completely disrupted the North Texas offense.  Forcing the Mean Green to shoot 33.9 percent.

“I’m disappointed,” Mitchell said. “When you accomplish a big goal like the first winning season in 12 years, you celebrate it. But you also hope that the fire and hunger that got us there will help us strive to do better and keep those wins coming.”

Bradley set the school record for single season free throws with 140 and became the sixth player all-time to score over 500 points in a single season. As she continues to add to her resume and pad the stat sheets on nightly basis, Mitchell wants other players to step up.

“We’ve said since day one she’s got to have some company,” Mitchell said. “She got to have people with her — we can’t just look to her for everything. She has to have some help.”

With two games remaining, players know it’s important to get recapture the momentum they had before heading into conference tournament.

“It’s obviously frustrating since we won four in a row and then lost this one,” Holmes said. “But we need to have short-term memory and finish the season [strong].”

Next up: North Texas will play their final home game against UAB on Mar. 1 at 5 p.m.

Featured image: Freshman Guard Lauren Holmes (33) goes for a lay-up.