North Texas Daily

Matt Brune | Staff Writer

With 4.7 seconds remaining in the game, the Mean Green women’s basketball team was down two and quickly pushed the ball up the court. Sophomore guard Terriell Bradley got the ball in the corner and hoisted a potential game winning three-pointer.

But Bradley’s shot fell just short, and Rice University walked away with a 51-49 come-from-behind win over North Texas (5-11, 2-3).

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Mean Green, as the team led by as many as 13 points late in the third quarter.

The run was swift, fast and lethal as the Owls (10-6, 1-4) scored 14 unanswered points to take a 34-33 lead late in the third quarter. Bradley made a layup to give the Mean Green the lead heading to the fourth, but the damage had already been done as the Owls put pressure on North Texas while seizing control of the game’s momentum.

The dominant stretch of play helped propel them to their first Conference USA win of the year.

“They made a run where they hit three or four threes in a row,” head coach Jalie Mitchell said. “And I think that gave them some momentum, and we didn’t take that back. We weren’t putting the ball in the hole.”

Senior guard Candice Adams came off the bench and played well, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc in 33 minutes of action.

Bradley was the team’s leading scorer with 15 points in the loss.

But despite strong performances from Adams and Bradley, the North Texas offense struggled as a whole. The Mean Green scored less than 50 points for the first time since the Nov. 11 season opener.

North Texas had a season-high 14 points in the second quarter, but shot just shot 33 percent from the field.

While the offense struggled, the Mean Green felt as though defense played a bigger role in the second half collapse.

“We let them score way too many buckets and get momentum, that’s where the problem was,” Adams said. “We weren’t talking on defense, [we] weren’t getting the necessary stops.”

Rice gave the Mean Green a pulse late in the game when the Owls were called for a technical foul after a made shot with 29 seconds left.

Freshman Madison Townley cut the deficit to one at the free-throw line and North Texas had a chance to win it. But the Mean Green were unable to overcome the dramatic shift of momentum in favor of Rice.

For the first time in conference play, Mitchell had her entire roster at full health. But even with more depth, North Texas just could not find a rhythm.

“There were times when we moved the ball well and we got some open looks that we just didn’t knock down,” Mitchell said. “We had our chances to win, just didn’t get it done.”

Next up: North Texas hosts Southern Miss at 7 p.m. Thursday.