Charlotte 91, UAB 69
The Charlotte women's basketball team continued their winning ways, picking up their third straight win to open play in the American Athletic Conference with a dominant 91-69 win over the UAB Blazers.
The third quarter was all Charlotte 49ers. Imani Smith and Jacee Busick each made a three-pointer to open the second half, combined with a Dazia Lawrence made jumper to tie the game. Charlotte regained the lead when Smith picked up another steal resulting in a fastbreak layup, forcing a UAB timeout with the score at 50-48.
Following the timeout, UAB turned the ball over once again. Rembert had the steal and found Dazia Lawrence who drove to the basket and fought through contact for the and-one. The run ended at 19-1 for Charlotte as the Niners led 59-48 at the media timeout. Olivia Porter and Jewel Watkins each hit a three-pointer to close out the period, fueling a 30-point quarter for the Niners as they led 70-59 going into the fourth.
The Niners kept their foot on the gas pedal in the fourth quarter to ensure momentum stayed in their favor. Dazia Lawrence was a perfect four-for-four in the fourth quarter for 11 points, scoring 22 in the second half on 8-for-11 shooting. This helped push the CLT lead to as high as 22 points in the last period, with the highest scoring run being 16. Tamia Davis saw her first action of the season after rehabbing from injury, sinking a three-pointer in her two minutes of action. In the last 20 minutes, CLT only committed four turnovers.
The difference in the game proved to be Charlotte's defense, particularly in the fourth quarter as UAB's shooting went cold, shooting 3-14 in the fourth (21.4%) and 1-7 on threes (14.3%). This fueled a 51-22 scoring margin in favor of the Niners, with CLT picking up their third AAC victory of the season by a score of 91-69.
Dazia Lawrence once again proved why she is one of the best players in the American Athletic Conference. The three-time honor roll and preseason second-team selection one-upped her 26-point performance at South Florida with 30 points this afternoon, including six rebounds, six assists, and three steals. 22 of her 30 points came in the second half.
Rice 65, SMU 63
Tied at 63-63 with 25 seconds remaining, Destiny Jackson winded down the clock before driving in and laying the ball off the glass and through the net as time expired to give the Owls a 65-63 win against SMU at Moody Coliseum Sunday afternoon.
Jackson led the Owls with 17 points, seven assists, six rebounds and a block and steal while Malia Fisher finished with her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Jazzy Owens-Barnett rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, two assists and two steals.
As a team, Rice shot 23-of-60 (38.3%) from the floor and 6-of-15 (40.0%) from three-point range. The Owls added a 13-of-15 (86.7%) from the free throw line. Rice out-rebounded SMU 39-34, with 10 offensive rebounds resulting in 18 second-chance points for the Owls.
North Texas 86, Florida Atlantic 52
Dyani Robinson posted a season-high 22 points for the UNT women's basketball team in an 86-52 win over Florida Atlantic Sunday afternoon inside the Super Pit.
The 34-point win is the largest margin of victory in a conference game since the Mean Green defeated UTSA by 39 in 2020. The win also moved UNT to 12-3 overall, surpassing its entire win total from a season ago.
After Florida Atlantic opened the scoring, UNT responded and immediately took control of the game with a 10-0 run. The Mean Green forced eight turnovers in the first quarter, while shooting 50% from the field en route to a 20-7 lead.
Robinson was off and running from the start with six points in each of the first two quarters to go with three rebounds and three assists.
North Texas would take a 45-19 lead into the break, marking its second highest point total in a first half this season only behind its 46 points in the season opener against UNT Dallas. UNT had nine scorers in the first half and shot 59% overall in the half, with a 71.4% mark in the second quarter alone.The Owls came out of the half with their best stretch of the game in an 8-0 run but the Mean Green quickly regained control as it built up a 30-point lead to end the quarter up 68-38. Tommisha Lampkin posted nine of her 18 points for the game in the third quarter.
UNT cleared its bench in the final quarter with its lead growing as large as 37 points, leading 82-45 lead with 3:01 to go in the game. The Mean Green finished the game shooting 60.3% overall, which is the fourth-highest mark in a single game in program history.
Following Robinson's 22 points and Lampkin's 18, Jaaucklyn Moore had nine points, while Shadasia Brackens set a personal best and led UNT with seven rebounds.