Mavunga unstoppable in UNC women's basketball win

When North Carolina forward Stephanie Mavunga knocked Ohio State forward Shayla Cooper to the floor, she didn’t hesitate. She reached down and helped Cooper to her feet like they were friends playing a game of pickup.

But this wasn’t a game of pickup. It was the second half of UNC’s 86-84 win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Rather than running past Cooper with the rest of her teammates trying to hold off a furious Buckeye rally, Mavunga chose to stop and help Cooper to her feet. The two ran down the court side by side.

“I’m really not a mean player,” Mavunga said. “I remember when I was young, people used to tell me I was too nice on the court. I think sometimes that gets a little bit in my way.”

Aside from that moment, Monday night was not one of those times for Mavunga. Nothing could stop her — not Cooper, not anyone on Ohio State’s defense. She exploded for 27 points off of 13-for-18 shooting and collected a game-high 14 rebounds and four blocked shots.

“Stephanie’s so strong in there,” Coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “I felt like if we could get the ball in there to her, she could score.”

Coming off of a tough game against Liberty in which she shot only 4-for-13 from the floor, Mavunga doubted she had Monday’s scoring performance in her. But her teammates never wavered in their support — Hatchell told Mavunga before the game that no one on Ohio State would be able to stop her.

“In my mind I was thinking, ‘Man I don’t know, that’s a lot of faith to have in a kid,’” Mavunga said.

But when she looked around and saw her teammates nodding in agreement, she thought of what her brother told her.

“You’re a matchup they don’t want to see.”

Mavunga took that to heart from the opening tip. Initially the Buckeyes tried to let freshman Alexa Hart defend Mavunga alone. That strategy resulted in 18 first-half points for Mavunga and contributed to a 50-32 halftime lead for UNC.

“Once I saw single coverage, I thought, ‘I’m about to have a clinic here,’” Mavunga said.

She scored the first six points of the game for UNC and six of the first nine UNC points of the second half. She opened up things for the rest of the offense, drawing frequent double teams in the second half and even the occasional triple team. That gave senior guard Brittany Rountree enough space to knock down five three-pointers, including two assisted by Mavunga.

Mavunga had two total assists on the night, but her assist to Cooper when she fell earlier in the game didn’t show up on the stat sheet even though it encapsulated her night.

She might pick you up if she knocks you down, but that won’t stop her from scoring on you.

And there’s nothing you can do about it.

sports@dailytarheel.com