Women's basketball bests Bulldogs in exhibition

In the No. 12 North Carolina women’s basketball team’s second exhibition game of the season, a strong inside presence helped the team defeat Wingate 93-61 Tuesday night.

Though UNC’s roster only lists four players as forwards, the Tar Heel lineup was still significantly taller than that of the Wingate Bulldogs, alma mater of UNC associate head coach Andrew Calder.

Wingate had only five players on the court at 6 feet or taller. UNC’s roster lists only four less than 6 feet. Of those four, only two were dressed out and saw playing time.

Calder said that height disparity didn’t influence his team in playing how he wanted — utilizing both inside and outside players.

“It doesn’t really matter that they’re smaller,” Calder said. “Not to us. We’re trying to get the ball inside. We’re trying to get a balance between inside and outside basketball.

“And they can be big in there. They can be small in there. We still need to get so many passes in the paint, whether we pass in there or drive it in there.”

UNC excelled in the post, racking up 50 points in the paint compared to Wingate’s 14.

The Tar Heels also bested the Bulldogs in another inside category Calder said was vital to the win — fast-break points. UNC scored 18 points off of fast-break plays while Wingate failed to score any.

Freshman guard Allisha Gray led the team with 15 points, but said adapting to her team’s quick tempo has been a challenge.

“College is way … faster than high school,” Gray said. “I just have to learn how to speed my game up.”

On the perimeter, the Tar Heels struggled to play in the perimeter-post style Calder had planned for, shooting just 18.5 percent beyond the arc.

“They were good shots,” Calder said of his team’s 5-27 three-point shooting. “If they’re good shots, I don’t have any problem with those.

“I thought we got a lot of good looks that didn’t go. I have all the confidence in the world over our players knocking those shots down and they will.”

Three of UNC’s three-pointers came from redshirt sophomore guard Megan Buckland. Buckland made 42.9 percent of her three-point attempts and scored 13 of UNC’s 44 points off the bench.

All 11 of UNC’s available players made an appearance in the game, and that bench strength only makes Calder more confident in his team’s ability to execute plays in and out of the paint.

“We’ve got a lot of depth on this team,” Calder said. “And that’s very good because we can still run players in and out. I think the team chemistry will still blend.”

sports@dailytarheel.com