Women’s basketball wins exhibition battle between crosstown rivals
North Texas junior guard Kelsey Criner (3) dribbles down the court during an exhibition against Texas Woman's University. Ryan Vance | Senior Staff Photographer
Alex Lessard | Staff Writer
In a friendly exhibition matchup before its season opener on Nov. 13, the Mean Green women’s basketball team defeated Texas Woman’s University by a score of 69-59.
Although the game won’t count in the record books, the victory prepares North Texas for success after last year’s 5-24 campaign.
Newly hired head coach Jalie Mitchell’s squad had four players reach double digits in points to pull out the victory, finishing the game with a 47.5 field goal percentage and a 35.7 percent clip from three-point range.
Experience proved vital for the Mean Green on the offensive end. 21 points from senior forward Acheil Tac, 15 from junior guard Terra Ellison and 12 from senior guard Teadra Jones led the team in scoring. The team’s 69 point effort shows major improvement from last season when the Mean Green averaged just 51.8 points per game.
The game was dominated by points in the paint from both sides early on. Tac was the focal point of the offense in the first half, scoring 11 points on 4-9 shooting with seven rebounds. Junior center Erin Maxwell led the way for TWU, going 5-9 from the field and scoring 12 of her 22 total points.
After allowing an 8-0 TWU run in the second quarter to trim the lead to one point, North Texas went on an offensive surge of its own, heading into the intermission with a 34-28 lead. A nearly identical sequence happened in the third quarter, but consecutive defensive stops helped the Mean Green get its lead back to six points headed into the fourth.
North Texas kept its lead down the stretch despite a back-and-forth final 10 minutes to secure the victory, outscoring TWU 25-21 in the fourth quarter. North Texas held TWU to a 36.4 shooting percentage for the game, nearly 4 percentage points less than its defensive team average last season.
Junior guard Candice Adams led North Texas with 39 minutes played, draining two threes in the fourth quarter and providing energy defensively with three steals.
The regular season will officially begin on Friday, Nov. 13 with a home matchup against the University of San Francisco. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.
Featured Image: North Texas junior guard Kelsey Criner (3) dribbles down the court during an exhibition against Texas Woman’s University. Ryan Vance | Senior Staff Photographer
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