North Texas Daily

Matt Brune | Staff Writer

For a brief moment in Birmingham, Alabama, the scoreboard showed UAB 60, UNT 59 at the end of overtime. After a conceding a 15-point fourth quarter lead, tension was high.

That is, until the referees reviewed the last-second basket by the University of Alabama at Birmingham and deemed it was no good.

The result? A 59-58 victory for North Texas, giving the Mean Green (5-9, 2-1) their second consecutive win and first overtime win since 2007.

“We know how to buckle down and get a win,” junior forward Tosin Mabodu said. [Heading into overtime we said]’ The game’s not over, we just need stops and rebounds.’”

On a night where North Texas was without starting point guard Kelsey Criner — and a game where no one on the team really took control — eight women played significant minutes and only one scored over eight points. Part of this was due to constant foul trouble, and part was because they did not need anyone to take over because their defense held the Blazers (7-6, 0-2) in check, only allowing 31 points through the first three quarters.

But unlike their previous game against Old Dominion, North Texas was on the receiving end of a huge fourth quarter run, as UAB erased a double-digit deficit with under six minutes to play.

The Mean Green never trailed in regulation, but an offensive rebound led to an uncontested UAB three that splashed home with 26 seconds left. Sophomore guard Terriell Bradley then missed a jumper from the free throw line, and the two headed to overtime.

Down two in the extra frame, senior forward Terra Ellison split a pair of free throws. North Texas then got a stop and got fouled on the rebound with 16 seconds and trailing by one. Sophomore guard Grace Goodhart missed both free throws, but Ellison was fouled on the box-out.

She canned both attempts at the charity stripe, and sent the Mean Green home with a win.

Somehow, someway, North Texas found a way to get it done.

“In overtime I thought we were a lot more resilient,” head coach Jalie Mitchell said. “We just grinded it out. I told them in the huddle ‘this is our fault, we put ourselves in this situation by not handling the fourth quarter as well.’”

With Criner out for an uncertain amount of time, the Mean Green will be down a key player on their roster entering the heart of Conference USA play.

The positive for Mitchell and her team, however, is they can take something away from almost having a win snatched from them.

“We didn’t take care of the ball and didn’t take care of business like we needed to,” Mitchell said. “I hope it’s a lesson learned for our team, [but] again, I am proud of them for overtime and battling back.”

Next up: The Mean Green travel to take on Middle Tennessee at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Featured image: North Texas senior guard Kelsey Criner (3) dribbles on the baseline against Louisiana Tech last season. Colin Mitchell