Women’s basketball shoots past Clemson

Five minutes into Thursday night’s contest, the North Carolina women’s basketball team was in trouble.

Clemson held a 13-2 lead, and the Tar Heels couldn’t make a basket. But after a TV timeout, freshman Stephanie Mavunga scored to end Clemson’s run. Next time down the court, junior Brittany Rountree sank a three.

Then the Tar Heels hit another basket. And another.

Thirty-five minutes later when the shots stopped raining, No. 9 UNC (15-3, 3-1 ACC) dribbled out the clock for a 78-55 win.

“We’re a talented team,” said associate head coach Andrew Calder. “Eventually we’re going to make those shots.”

Early on, the Tigers’ speed and athleticism rattled the Tar Heels. Clemson succeeded in scoring off the dribble on offense and collapsing on the Tar Heels post players on defense. This left UNC’s shooters open for buckets, but they could not capitalize. Calder took blame for the slow start, joking that he needed to work on his pregame motivational speeches.

But something he said pregame did make a difference.

“Coach Calder talked about Michael Jordan, and how as you get better the game starts to slow down and you start to notice things a lot more,” said freshman guard Diamond DeShields.

DeShields, who has averaged almost 20 points the last three games, was held without a shot for nearly the first 12 minutes of the game. She finished with 24 points, including four 3-pointers, while continuing to play with a broken hand.

“Things are looking a lot more clear when I’m out there, and I’m able to see lot more,” DeShields said.

The star freshman showcased her talent and versatility throughout the game. One sequence in the second half characterized her performance: She sliced through the defense for a bucket, forced a missed shot and grabbed the rebound on the other end, then fired a bullet down the court to sophomore N’Dea Bryant for another basket.

Freshman teammate Allisha Gray added 16 more points to the scoring downpour and Mavunga finished with 10. Add in Jessica Washington’s four points, and the freshmen on the team combined for only a point fewer than the entire Clemson team.

“They got good balance on their shots, they didn’t rush them and we got some things going in transition,” Calder said of his team’s turnaround.

Despite the torrential scoring output, UNC was careless with the ball at times. Passing is a point of emphasis for Calder’s team; its goal each game is to have more assists than turnovers. Though they had 18 assists, the Tar Heels committed 14 turnovers, many of which were careless or inaccurate passes. Calder partially credited Clemson’s defensive intensity but emphasized his team played a part with some sloppy passing.

“In order to be a great offensive team, you have to be a great passing team,” he said.

Calder added their hopes as national championship contenders rest on their ability to pass and share the ball. But despite the passing struggles, the shots still fell for the Tar Heels — one after another after another.

sports@dailytarheel.com