Women’s basketball wins in Raton for first time since 2008
After a 46-point victory over Florida International University on Thursday night, head coach Jalie Mitchell said it was important for her team to keep playing North Texas basketball.
With that in mind, they continued their south Florida road trip on Saturday night against Florida Atlantic University and picked up their fourth conference win of the season, winning 65-51.
Early on, North Texas found themselves down by double digits. Despite the deficit, freshman guard Lauren Holmes made her presence felt off the bench, scoring eight of North Texas’ 12 points in the first quarter to keep to the Mean Green within striking distance of the Owls.
“I don’t like seeing my team struggle and if there is anything I can do to help offensively or defensively, I do my best to do that,” Holmes said. “My teammates [kept] telling me to shoot the ball and stay confident and I think I got my confidence back this game.”
It was a tale of two quarters for the Mean Green. After letting FAU (10-10, 4-6) go on a 14-6 run to open the game, North Texas (13-10, 4-7) made some adjustments in the second quarter and entered half time down two points. Defensively, they switched to a zone, which caused the Owls to shoot more contested shots.
North Texas was able to take advantage of the Owls getting into foul trouble. Particularly during the third quarter as forward Ra’Kyra Gabriel was restricted to 24 minutes of play after fouling out. This allowed North Texas to attack the rim and have more to space to get their shots off.
The Mean Green had 37 points off the bench compared to FAU’s four points. Once Holmes got going, other players started to find their shots and contribute on both ends of the courts.
“I tell them all the time we need everybody,” Mitchell said. “We have ten, we’re ten strong and we have to always be ten strong. Everybody focused and everybody bringing [what] they can bring for us to achieve our goals.”
while Holmes provided the spark the team needed, junior guard Terriell Bradley still led the team in scoring, posting 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
This is the Mean Green’s first win against FAU in Boca Raton, Florida since 2008 and with five games remaining, North Texas is seeking some consistency heading into the tournament play. It could start here after winning back-to-back road games for the first time since November.
“We kind of struggled the month of January, but it’s really good that we are starting well in February,” Holmes said. “We can get our confidence back up and make this last run until the conference tournament.”
Next up: North Texas returns home to face Southern Mississippi University (13-10, 5-5) on Thursday, Feb. 15 at 5 p.m.
Featured image: Freshman guard Lauren Holmes (33) goes for a lay-up.
There are no comments at the moment, do you want to add one?
Write a comment