Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
North Texas
Mean Green Downs Herd, 71-63
1/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Final Stats
Final Stats (pdf)
Daniel Postgame Press Conference
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - North Texas got 18 points apiece from Terra Ellison and Candice Adams to lead four players in double figures as the Mean Green women defeated Marshall 71-63 Thursday evening in the Henderson Center.
The visitors improved to 7-7 overall and 2-2 in Conference USA, while Marshall dropped its first home game of the season to fall to 11-4 and 1-3 in the league.
"We have to be the toughest team on the court each game if we want to have a chance of winning," said Marshall head coach Matt Daniel. "Tonight we got outplayed. They killed us on the glass. We have to play tougher and play with a better pace."
"We have not been shooting well for the last five games. We were fortunate to split the last four on the road and were unable to play well tonight."
Kelsey Criner added 14 points and four steals and Acheil Tac had a double-double effort of 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Mean Green to lead a 39-26 edge on the boards.
Marshall was led by Leah Scott's 21 points, five rebounds and a career-high six steals. She made 12 of 14 at the free throw line but was 4 of 17 from the field. Taylor Porter added 14 points and Talequia Hamilton tallied 12.
Both teams shot exceptionally well from the free throw line as Marshall made 23 of 28 (82.1%), but North Texas topped that, sinking 17 of 18 (94.4%).
Ultimately, the 3-point line was again a major stat as Marshall made just 17.4% (4 of 23).
Marshall more than doubled the Mean Green in steals (14-6) and had an overwhelming edge in points off turnovers (31-9) as it forced North Texas into 28 miscues.
North Texas took the early lead (5-4) on an Adams 3-pointer nearly four minutes into the game and never looked back. The Mean Green took advantage of three Thundering Herd charging calls in the opening minutes of both the first and third quarters to keep the home team at bay.
The Herd turned up the juice in the fourth quarter, scoring 31 after netting 32 in the previous three stanzas. The Mean Green built a 16-point lead (55-39) on two Tac free throws at the 5:50 mark and Marshall got it as close at six (67-61) on a Porter layup with 16 seconds left before Adams nailed four free throws to salt away the victory.
Marshall will be back in action Saturday against Rice at 1 p.m.
