GREENSBORO — The North Carolina women’s basketball team put one foot on the road toward a record 10th ACC title in style Thursday, defeating Clemson 78-64 in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
While the No. 19 Tar Heels have historically experienced success in the ACC Tournament, this year’s team came into Friday’s matchup on a four-game losing streak. With the regular season over, UNC is ready to put their poor play behind them and focus on their “new” season.
“We said this is a new season,” senior guard Cetera DeGraffenreid said. “That season’s over. Now we have a championship to win.”
With the regular season behind them, the Tar Heels (23-7) were able to put away a pesky Clemson (10-20) team by dominating play down low. Led by senior forward Jessica Breland and junior Chay Shegog, the Tar Heels finished with 40 points in the paint.
“It was a focus to go inside, that’s what we were wanting to do,” UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “When you get the ball inside, you are going to get good shots. When we go inside with the ball, the defense collapses and that gives Italee (Lucas) better looks.”
Senior guard Lucas got plenty of good looks on the night, finishing with a team-high 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting. While Lucas thrived with open looks, it was Degraffenreid who was the motor behind the Tar Heel’s offense.
“Cetera did a really good job running the team tonight and not just with her shooting,” Hatchell said. “She had eight assists, one turnover and six steals. That’s pretty doggone good.”
DeGraffenreid needed to be good Friday, as the 11th-seeded Tigers would not go down without a fight.
The senior was able to constantly drive to the basket and create open layups. When DeGraffenreid wasn’t able to penetrate Clemson’s defense, she was able to find Breland or Shegog down low.
