Owls Fall in American Second Round Against North Texas

Wednesday, March 11

Birmingham, Ala.

1 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

14-18,7-11American

North Texas

18-13,11-7American

Fla. Atlantic

North Texas

3/11/2026 5:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The No. 9 Florida Atlantic Owls dropped a tough battle against No. 5 North Texas, 80-57, in the second round of the American Conference Championship on Wednesday at Legacy Arena.

The Owls end the season at 14-18 overall, while North Texas moves to 18-13 on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
North Texas opened the scoring, but the Owls took their first lead of the game three minutes in after a Grace Carstensen 3-pointer, making it 5-3 Owls. The game stayed close, with six lead changes in the first. Vivian Onugha had a big first quarter for Florida Atlantic, putting up seven points. North Texas went on a 9-0 run to end the quarter, taking a 19-12 lead after one.

Turnovers proved to be costly for the Owls to open the second quarter, scoring just three points through the first four minutes off free throws from Onugha and Destyne Jackson. Carstensen and Madi Gewirtz started to spark the Owls' offense, scoring five combined points off a 3-pointer and a layup to stifle the North Texas run and cut the deficit back to 10, 30-20, with 5:08 to play in the opening half. UNT began to pull away again, going on a 12-3 run to close the half, 42-23.

Carstensen connected on her second 3-pointer of the day to start the second half, cutting the deficit to 42-26. The Owls kept battling, trading scores with the Mean Green to keep things within 19 at 53-34; however, North Texas scored on back-to-back 3-pointers to extend its lead to 25 with 2:34 to play in the third. Michiyah Simmons scored off a turnover to close out the quarter, as the Owls trailed 59-36 entering the final 10 minutes of play.

Just like the third, the Owls connected on a triple to open the fourth, this time from Erin Rogers. Rodgers then connected on an and-1, knocking down a midrange jumper and drawing the foul, scoring the Owls' only points over the first three minutes of the fourth. Simmons joined her, knocking down a three of her own, and a layup shortly after, to spark an 11-2 Owl run, cutting the deficit back down to 18, 71-53, at the fourth-quarter media break with 4:23 to play. However, it was just too little too late as North Texas went on a 9-4 run to close out the contest, 80-57.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH LEANN FREELAND
"Obviously, North Texas just commanded the game today. They are such a great team. They have size and strength on us, which really posed a problem for us, especially in the first half. You could tell the fatigue set in early for us as we played a big game yesterday, and with only nine players, you know, that kind of wore us down. I'm so impressed and proud of the team, with everything we went through to get to this point. Vivian can speak to that. But again, a lot of toughness and resilience our team showed all season long."

NOTES AND TEAM STATS

Onugha led the way for the Owls, posting her fourth double-double of the season, scoring a team-best 18 points, shooting 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-6 at the line, and adding a team-high 10 rebounds.
Rodgers also scored in double figures for the Owls, finishing with 15 points and shooting 6-of-15 from the field, 1-of-3 from three-point range, going 1-of-1 at the line, to go along with six boards and tying for a team-high two assists.
Walker finished with a team-best two blocks, and Ineivi Plata collected a team-high two steals on the day.
The Owls held advantages off points in the paint, 30-26, and off second chance opportunities, 9-6, and bench points, 13-12.
Florida Atlantic also outshot the Mean Green in the fourth quarter, going 9-of-18 from the field, compared to UNT's 7-of-17, and knocking down two threes to the Mean Green's one.

GALLERY

Gallery: (3-11-2026) WBB vs. No. 5 North TX (AC Tournament)

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Florida Atlantic's 2025-26 season is sponsored by Flagler Credit Union.