BLACKSBURG, VA – After the first half, the North Carolina’s women’s basketball team could have counted itself lucky to only be losing by four to Virginia Tech.
In the second half, the Tar Heels had no such luck.
UNC found itself on the short end of a 20-6 run to start the second half and never recovered, eventually losing 79-64.
“I substituted five-at-a-time and everything else trying to get something going and find something that would make a difference out there,” coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “That’s part of the problem. I’m playing all these kids to see who’s going to step up.”
UNC, laden with nine freshmen and sophomores, did not know how to respond to such a run, and for the rest of the game sat about 15 points behind the Hokies.
“We shot terrible,” Hatchell said. “We took a lot of shots, we rebounded well, but a lot of those were the missed shots.”
For the entire game, UNC could not put the ball in the basket. Even on free throws, the Tar Heels shot an uncharacteristic 12-24. The team finished the game 24-72 from the field.
On the offensive end, the Tar Heels grabbed 29 rebounds, but even though UNC dominated the offensive glass, it only managed six more second-chance points than the Hokies — mainly due to its inability to score at all.
The missed shots gave North Carolina no opportunities to set up their press, and its halfcourt defense struggled because of it.