A slow start once again sunk the North Carolina women’s basketball team Thursday night at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh. The No. 18 Wolfpack opened the game with an 8-0 run and never looked back in a comfortable 80-60 win — avenging a 13-point loss to UNC in Chapel Hill less than a month earlier.
“We knew that they were going to start out strong and fast ...” head coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “They’re experienced, they’ve got shooters and they’ve got depth.”
Following its opening run over the game’s first minute and 17 seconds, N.C. State (21-7, 11-4 ACC) used that momentum to dominate the first half. At the end of the opening quarter, the Tar Heels (14-14, 3-12 ACC) already trailed by 16 points.
The Wolfpack offense scored at will, shooting 54.3 percent from the field in the first half. North Carolina especially struggled to stop N.C. State’s guards from driving to the basket for an easy layup or a quick dish to a waiting 3-point shooter. The Wolfpack capitalized on these opportunities, making 10 threes in the opening half on 52.6 percent shooting from behind the arc.
“They have some really, really good 3-point shooters, and that’s the strength of their team,” Hatchell said. “When they’re making threes, they’re hard to beat.”
But UNC’s struggles also extended to its offense. The Tar Heels had difficulty dealing with N.C. State’s athleticism and defensive pressure. North Carolina shot just 33.3 percent from the field for the game and turned the ball over 15 times while recording just six assists.
“We just got to play at the end of the day,” said junior guard Jamie Cherry. “If the play breaks down, we’ve just got to attack and have that mentality that we’re going to score and get our teammates open shots.”
Had it not been for the play of Cherry and redshirt sophomore guard Paris Kea, the Tar Heels likely would have had to deal with an even larger halftime deficit than the 54-33 one they faced.
