Jamie Cherry heeds Hatchell's advice

Entering the North Carolina women’s basketball team’s second exhibition, Coach Sylvia Hatchell had a challenge for her players — drive to the basket.

And on the opening play of the game, sophomore guard Jamie Cherry listened to Hatchell’s plea, attacking the basket before dishing the ball outside for an open 3-pointer by Destinee Walker.

“Last game we didn’t shoot the ball well, and coach was telling us we needed to drive,” Cherry said.

And drive she did.

Coming off a less-than-stellar start to the season in the team’s opening exhibition against Wingate, Cherry served as the driving force in Monday’s 99-45 victory over Mount Olive. She racked up 23 points, six steals, five rebounds and four assists.

In addition to her early assist, she drained a shot from behind the arc less than three minutes into the game, marking the Tar Heels’ second 3-pointer of the contest.

The shot helped UNC quickly improve on its 3-point shooting from the previous game, in which North Carolina only made one of its 22 3-pointers.

Fighting her way through the Mount Olive defense, Cherry continued to be a powerful playmaker. She recorded a steal at the end of the first quarter and scored on a layup.

After scoring only 10 points and not making a single trip to the free-throw line in the previous game, Cherry scored 12 of her 23 points on free throws.

She was far from selfish, though, tying for the team lead in assists.

“I like to see (Walker) score,” Cherry said. “I like to see everybody score. I mean, it takes the pressure off of me just watching her sit back and score.”

This teamwork was evident, as Walker also finished with 23 points, and both players combined for almost half of the team’s points.

Hatchell noticed the dynamic between Cherry and her first-year counterpart.

“They like playing together,” Hatchell said. “They compliment each other and I think they’ll share (the leadership role).”

Walker agreed. As a five-star recruit at Lake Highland Preparatory School in Orlando, teams focused on her with their defenses. But with Cherry by her side, Walker knows they can keep opposing teams off guard.

“Coming from high school, I was always the person bringing the ball up,” Walker said. “Having the chance to be able to switch off and still be able to bring up the ball but then being able to get her open and her getting me open — it just works well together.”

Cherry’s playing time dwindled as UNC’s lead grew to 42 points at halftime. But she continually drove to the basket and dominated play.

With the game’s outcome seemingly secure, she continued to heed Hatchell’s message.

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