North Texas Daily

The North Texas women’s basketball team (16-15, 8-10, Conference USA) defeated Texas-Rio Grande Valley (18-15, 10-6 Western Athletic) 56-42 at the Super Pit. This game is the first win in the postseason  women’s basketball history. The last time the team was in a postseason tournament was 2002 when head coach Jalie Mitchell was playing for North Texas.

Junior center Anisha George led the Mean Green with 19 points, two rebounds and a steal in 20 minutes. Senior guard Terriell Bradley totaled four points, three assists and two rebounds and steals each in 24 minutes. Redshirt sophomore Callie Owens came off the bench and scored 10 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes.

“I am really proud of how our team stepped up tonight and it was everybody making an impact in different ways,” Mitchell said.

After announcing that she didn’t want the C-USA Championship tournament to be the last outing for the seniors, Mitchell signed up to play in the WBI and give the seniors another opportunity to go out on top.

“It has always been the goal to play postseason,” Mitchell said. “I love that we put in the work to get here and now we have taken advantage of the opportunity.”

The team shot 42 percent in field goal percentage consistently throughout the game.

In the first quarter,  the Mean Green went up 20-10, led by George’s nine points. Heading into halftime, the Vaqueros cut the lead down to seven, trailing 31-24. The third quarter concluded with the Mean Green winning 45-34 after an Owens 3-pointer right before the buzzer. North Texas finished the game shooting 42 percent from the field in the 14-point victory.

“I definitely see us winning the WBI,” sophomore point guard Trena Mims said. “[We need to] just play our game, just have fun and do it for the school do it for the fans.”

UP NEXT: The win qualifies North Texas to go into the second round of the WBI, which will take place at the Super Pit on March 26 against Utah State (17-15, 10-8 Mountain West).

“One down and got to focus on the next one,” Mitchell said. “I want our fans to see us winning and to make sure that they bring friends and bring other fans and family and are giving them what we work for which is great basketball.”

Featured Image: Mean Green sophomore forward Deja Terrel celebrates after making a basket against Texas-Rio Grande at the Super Pit on March 20, 2019. Image by: Trevon McWilliams.