DENTON, Texas -- Despite a career-high 19 points from MaKayla Timmons, the Old Dominion women's basketball team lost at North Texas, 63-46, on Thursday evening at the Super Pit.
"Any time you go on the road, it's tough," said head coach Nikki McCray-Penson. "One (key) tonight was to take care of the ball, and we did not do that tonight. I thought that really hurt us. They capitalized off of our turnovers."
North Texas (10-5, 1-2 C-USA), who owns the third-ranked scoring defense in the country, forced Old Dominion (2-14, 0-3 C-USA) into a season-high 23 turnovers that led to 21 Mean Green points.
In the opening half, Timmons scored 15 of her 19 points, as UNT carried a 33-24 lead into the locker rooms.
However, in the second half, foul trouble for Old Dominion in the third quarter allowed the Mean Green to break the game open. UNT scored 10 of its 20 points in the third from the free throw line and extended its lead to 19 at 53-34 entering the fourth. ODU outscored UNT, 12-10, in the fourth, but the double-digit deficit proved to be too much for the Monarchs to overcome.
"For us, we have to take care of the ball," said McCray. "We have to rebound the ball and we have to keep opponents off the free throw line."
ODU shot 41 percent from the field, while holding the Mean Green to 37 percent. UNT held a 32-28 advantage on the boards and an 18-9 edge in second-chance points.
Ashley Jackson added nine points, all of which came in the second half, for ODU. Carley Brew hauled in a career-high 10 rebounds and Dejah Carter talied a career-high four points. Freshman Lovie Harden scored her first career point with a free throw late in the fourth quarter.
Terriell Bradley led UNT with 23 points.
Up next, the Monarchs continue their Texas road trip on Saturday at UTSA at 8 p.m. ET. Coverage will be provided on CUSA.tv and Famous 1310 AM radio.
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