Breland gets her groove back against Clemson

GREENSBORO — In her last regular season game against Duke on Sunday, senior Jessica Breland was shut down.

An 0-for-6 performance left the forward frazzled and her team wanting more from its most experienced leader.

But in the first round of UNC’s title quest on Thursday, Breland showed exactly why she deserved her long-awaited return to the starting lineup.

“When you’re taken out of different starting lineups, it changes up your role on the team,” Breland said. “Starting is better for me. It helps put me back in the leadership position. It’s kind of hard to lead by the bench, especially if you do it by example.”

After midseason knee surgery forced the guard to miss games and switch roles, Breland has seen a season marked with brilliant flashes and disappointing performances.

But with 11 points and an optimistic approach to her final ACC Tournament in UNC’s first round victory against Clemson, it seems like the forward is finally finding her rhythm once more.

“I thought she played well,” UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “Jessica really does want to go out (like she came in) — she has two ACC championships. She knows that she’s had ups and downs with a lot of the games that we’ve had, but I think she really is focused and wants to have a good tournament.”

Clemson inched toward UNC’s decisive early lead in the middle of the first half with a stifling switch to zone defense.

But the Tigers quickly switched out of that zone as soon as Breland denied its effectiveness.

Repetitive midrange jumpers from UNC’s senior leader once again gave the Tar Heels an impressive lead as Breland worked toward eight points alone in the first half.

“It felt natural,” Breland said. “I didn’t think about, I just took the shots that the coaches told me to take. There were some shots that I didn’t take that I should have took, but it felt great.”

Breland’s 11-point effort was just half a point behind her season average as the Tar Heels’ second-leading scorer. Due to the coaching staff’s urging, Breland found the confidence she’d been lacking lately to take more shots with an aggressive offensive approach.

After hearing her coach stress accountability, it seemed like Breland finally took the words to heart — especially when her shots weren’t falling.

When the senior struggled from behind the arc in the second half, Breland was the first North Carolina player to reset on defense and shut down the Tigers, and Breland had two blocks and three steals in the game. She also finished with six rebounds.

“I’m the type of player that if I’m not scoring, I’m looking to do other things,” Breland said. “I have a great shot, so it’ll come. If I do a lot of rebounding and play defense, I’m just giving to the team. I don’t necessarily have to score all the time — we don’t need that.”

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