The No. 3 North Carolina women's basketball team might as well have put Clemson in handcuffs Thursday night.
Such was the character of the Tar Heels' defensive performance against the Tigers a total and complete shutdown.
Clemson managed to score only 18 points in the first period and at one point was down by 46 points.
From the outset UNC hurried and trapped Clemson with full-court pressure. The result was 18 Clemson turnovers as UNC hands and arms found their way into the Tigers' passing lanes to create easy buckets at the other end.
The chief architect of that pressure was freshman point guard Cetera DeGraffenreid who picked Clemson pockets three times on the evening.
UNC's patented half-court trapping severely limited Clemson's passing as the Tigers only recorded eight assists for the game.
However when Clemson did manage to get into its offense" it barely saw the bucket because of the blue-and-white jerseys crowding around them.
""I think sometimes" with the way we rotate and who picks up and all that stuff we make teams take quick shots UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. They know someone's coming; they just don't know how quick they're going to get there" ... so maybe they shoot it a little quick.""
Whatever the Tar Heels were doing" it certainly had the desired effect on the Tigers. Clemson shot24.3 percent for the game including a anemic 17.9 percent in the first half. From behind the three-point line Clemson was even more atrocious going 9 percent on 1-11 shooting in the first half.
Part of the problem could have been that UNC is a team filled with long athletic players and that length allowed for 12 blocked shots on the evening including five from senior LaToya Pringle.
During several sequences" UNC blocked or altered multiple Clemson attempts.
""We were trying to shoot over Pringle and Breland a lot and that's just not going to happen" Clemson head coach Cristy McKinney said. (Lele) Hardy did a great job on the boards" but she's gotta realize who's there when she gets it.""
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