Teamwork leads Tar Heels to a win against Wake Forest

A fixture on the front row of every North Carolina women’s basketball game, Roy Barnes can count on one hand the number of times he has missed a game in Carmichael Arena since 2005.

And the lifelong UNC fan said it was a no-brainer that he would be supporting the Tar Heels in their 76-56 Valentine’s Day win against Wake Forest — even if it meant another two-and-half-hour trip from Ahoskie.

“My wife and I were big basketball fans, and we had a girl from my high school team make the Carolina team,” Barnes said. “We’ve been coming since her freshman year until now.”

But it is the 2012-13 team’s intensity, energy and appreciation for fans like Barnes that keeps him coming back game after game.

“They give back as much as they get from the fans,” he said.

Of course, he couldn’t miss the celebration of coach Sylvia Hatchell’s 900th win, obtained a week ago at Boston College.

Since then, the Tar Heels hadn’t had a home game until Thursday night’s contest with Wake Forest.

After the pregame celebration concluded, the Tar Heels jumped out against the Demon Deacons with the kind of intensity that Barnes has become accustomed to this season.

The Tar Heels took a quick 6-0 lead within the first three minutes of play but picked up several quick fouls along the way.

Hatchell said she thought her team’s early physicality was left over from an extremely physical match Sunday against Georgia Tech.

“This was nothing compared to Sunday. Really, I mean you’re talking about a war and a battle. Mercy,” she said.

Though point guard Tierra Ruffin-Pratt was limited to nine minutes due to an ankle injury, the senior showed no sign of slowing down, scoring 13 points and sinking five out of her six free throws.

“We had to do things by committee tonight because Pratt was limited with her ankle,” Hatchell said.

Freshman Xylina McDaniel — called Z by her teammates and coaches — led all scorers with 15 points, and Danielle Butts went five for six from the field to register 10 points for the Tar Heels.

“Danielle went in there and did a nice job for us. Z got going. When she gets going, she can be really tough,” Hatchell said.

“It was good to get everybody in there and to score 76 points.”

But despite the Tar Heels’ smooth victory against the Demon Deacons, Hatchell said at times her team got too caught up with the score, which led to weaker play.

“(There were) times where we had to be clean, and we got sloppy and had some mental lapses and didn’t take care of the ball,” Hatchell said.

“And I really got upset when they did that.”

But for Hatchell’s players, and long-time fan Barnes, Thursday night was another team win in Coach Hatchell’s long-standing story book— another win which they had the honor of being a part of.

“These kids play hard. Fun to be around, coachable, and we’re winning — life’s good,” Hatchell said.

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.