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The Daily Tar Heel

Dynamite defense lifts UNC women's basketball to blowout victory over USC Upstate

With 5:30 to play in the first period, the North Carolina women’s basketball team fell behind 6-5 to USC Upstate. Sixteen seconds later, UNC reclaimed the advantage.

The Tar Heels wouldn’t give up the lead again.

UNC (7-5) relied on sharp shooting and great passing en route to its 80-40 rout of USC Upstate on Wednesday at Carmichael Arena, but the Tar Heels’ defense stood out the most in the victory.

While UNC’s spacing and shooting helped the team pile on points, the team’s exceptional defensive effort gave the Tar Heels their most one-sided victory of the season.

Holding USC Upstate (6-6) to 12 points or less in every quarter, the Tar Heels crushed any crack at a comeback before it even began.

Blocks and forced turnovers opened up the North Carolina attack, not allowing the Spartans to get set on defense for the majority of the night. UNC threw a number of defensive schemes at the Spartans, forcing 14 turnovers. 

First-year guard Stephanie Watts made a splash on the offensive end — leading all scorers with 21 points — but her presence on defense proved much more lethal.

Watts’ defensive duties were all on the perimeter, but the guard still found a way to lead her team with six blocks and 10 rebounds..

Once the Tar Heels got the ball rolling — laying their base on the defensive end — there was no slowing them down.

Quotable

“The team has made it more of a mentality to take pride in our defense. I think that’s helped us a lot. Just saying, ‘My man’s not going to be the one to score.’” — Watts on her team’s improvement on the defensive end this season.

Notable

Senior Xylina McDaniel saw just 15 minutes on Wednesday. The forward lost part of a toenail ahead of this contest, so she saw limited action. McDaniel’s teammates picked up the slack, putting together one of UNC’s best performances all season.

Three numbers that matter

11: The Tar Heels had 11 steals, including five by senior guard N’Dea Bryant. Her length and active hands helped the Tar Heels reach this mark.

11: UNC made 11 3-pointers on Wednesday, marking a new season-high.

40: The Tar Heels doubled the Spartans' score, winning by 40 points. This marked UNC’s largest victory of the season.

What's next?

The Tar Heels will take on Southern Miss at 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in South Carolina. 

@_Brohammed

sports@dailytarheel.com

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