UNC women's basketball sees highs, lows from youth in exhibition opener

Through the first three quarters of the exhibition matchup between the North Carolina women’s basketball team and Carson-Newman at Carmichael Arena on Wednesday — a game the Tar Heels eventually won, 96-70 — it looked like the game could go either way. 

Despite the Tar Heels boasting impressive young talent over their opponent, the squad’s inexperience showed as the team led just 63-54 at the end of the third quarter. 

“They came out going after us," Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "They’ve got great shooters. I don’t think there’s any doubt they will be one of the top Division-II programs in the country. They weren’t afraid of us. Those kids were smart, they are good players. They gave us all we could handle in the first half.” 

The 2016 Tar Heels' inexperience is something they will have to work around this season. UNC has just two upperclassmen on the roster — Jamie Cherry and Hillary Fuller — while the rest of the team is a handful of sophomores and eight first-year players. 

“We are still trying to find ourselves, in terms of who can play this position, and who's best ...” Hatchell said. "I was just letting them all have a little time to see what they could do.”

Mistakes by the team made the game much closer than it usually is between the two teams. In nine matchups in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels have scored over 100 points all but two times, including their performance on Wednesday. In the teams' last exhibition matchup, UNC outscored the Eagles 88-27. 

While the Tar Heels had trouble through three quarters, something clicked in the fourth. And while the inexperience of the team plagued its success through parts of the game, it also allowed young talent to emerge.

In the first game of her college career, first-year Taylor Koenen emerged as one of the top players of the game. She led her team with 23 points and added nine rebounds. 

“I keep saying that Taylor is going to be, without a doubt, one of the best freshman in the country,” Hatchell said. “She is one of the top candidates for Rookie of the Year in the ACC. Her numbers are good. I call her LB, Larry Bird, because she’s just that kind of player. She’s a utility player.”

Koenen said one of the keys to her success Wednesday was not overthinking things. 

"Some of the plays I could make in high school I couldn’t make in college …" she said. "I just had to take what the defense was giving me and just make the easy play instead of trying to do too much.”

As the starting point guard last season, Cherry averaged 13.6 points, 3.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game. Her role as the facilitator of the offense will allow her to distribute the ball to younger players like Koenen and allow them to shine. 

Cherry said her position as a team leader makes her responsible for making sure her teammates achieve their potential.

“I think it’s mainly teaching the freshman and building them up as far as we go," Cherry said. "They are only going to get better as they go, especially Taylor. She’s really, really good and the sky's the limit for her.”

With so much inexperience on the roster, Hatchell said the team has a lot to grow upon.

“I think we showed a lot in the second half as to what kind of team we can be," Hatchell said. “But, again, we are young and we have to keep getting better especially on the defensive end.”

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