North Texas Daily

Women’s basketball avenged their 60-55 loss Friday night with a 63-58 victory Saturday afternoon on Louisiana Tech University’s home court where sophomore guard Quincy Noble finished with a team-high 28 points — with 11 points coming in the fourth quarter alone. 

North Texas’ (9-4, 6-2 Conference USA) overall shooting improved to 42.9 percent (24-of-56 field goal attempts) compared to Friday night’s overall 29 percent shooting (20-of-69 field goal attempts). In terms of 3-point shooting, the Mean Green offense more than doubled their success from the floor at 31.9 percent (6-of-19 attempts) in comparison to Friday’s 14.3 percent (4-of-28 attempts).

“At halftime, we talked a lot about stats,” Head coach Jalie Mitchell said. “It was really important to keep [Louisiana Tech] off of the free-throw line and out of the lane. I thought our best quarter was the fourth from a defensive standpoint.”

Louisiana Tech (11-7, 6-6 C-USA) came into Saturday’s matchup with momentum swinging their way in the second half of game one taking advantage of North Texas’ fouls and cashing in late in the fourth quarter with free throws to put the contest out of reach. 

Out of the gate, North Texas jumped to a 19-4 lead in the first quarter with Noble banking in three 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Jazion Jackson and senior forward Madison Townley contributeded four points each. The Mean Green scored 24 points in the first quarter, making it the first time the team scored 20 points or more in a single quarter since the 76-52 win over the University of Texas-San Antonio on Jan. 9. 

Much like Friday night’s events, Louisiana Tech’s defense minimized the Mean Green offense and allowed five total points. From the latter part of the first quarter to the final 2:48 in the second quarter, the Lady Techsters went on an 18-1 run. Senior guard Amber Dixon and junior forward Brianna Harris scored seven points each in the 18-1 run as Harris added a free throw to help her team to a 31-29 halftime lead. 

The Lady Techsters defense held North Texas to 1-of-14 shooting in the second quarter (three of North Texas’ five points coming from free throws) and did not allow a single 3-pointer. 

Noble briefly gave North Texas the lead midway through the third quarter adding a 3-pointer and a layup to make the score 36-35. Louisiana Tech later commanded the remaining half of the quarter on a 14-7 run with senior guard Raizel Guinto making a 3-pointer and closing the quarter making consecutive free throws to go ahead 49-43. 

North Texas cut the deficit in the fourth quarter after Noble made consecutive 3-pointers and tied the game up at 54 on a layup. Sophomore forward Destinee McDowell and junior forward Rochelle Lee added jumpers to give the Mean Green a 58-56 lead. 

In the final minute, Jackson added three of North Texas’ final five points from the free throw line to pull away with the win. 

Noble scored her conference season-high with 28 points and tied her season-high in made 3-pointers with six. She completed the night 10-of-13 in field goal attempts (76.9 percent) and 6-of-9 in 3-point shooting (66.7 percent).

Noble led the team with four assists and Jackson tallied 11 points and a team-high five rebounds.

Harris led the Lady Techsters offense with 17 points and 14 rebounds on a double-double performance. Dixon (16) and junior guard Keiunna Walker (12) accounted for double-digit points. Dixon also had a team-high three assists.  

“In the locker room we talked about not going home with a loss,” Noble said. “From a defensive perspective, we dialed in and were working together.”

Up next: North Texas will return at home against the University of Southern Mississipi (6-6, 4-6 C-USA) Feb. 12 and 13. The Lady Eagles’ games against Rice University over the weekend were postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. Southern Miss’ most recent game came on a 57-44 win against Louisiana Tech on Jan. 30. 

Featured Image: Redshirt sophomore guard Quincy Noble dribbles past UTSA defender on Jan. 9, 2021. Image by Zachary Thomas