Even though the North Carolina women’s basketball team finished 3-0 in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge over the weekend, it wasn’t exactly how sophomore guard Jamie Cherry drew it up.
In the Tar Heels' first game of the tournament — a 64-46 win over Fairleigh Dickinson — Cherry broke her nose after taking an elbow to the face. The injury forced Cherry to wear a protective mask for the remainder of the weekend.
“We’re going to get her a mask,” Coach Sylvia Hatchell said after Friday's win. “She’s just going to have to play.”
Playing with the mask proved to be an adjustment for Cherry, who scored just seven points — all from the free-throw line — in Saturday's 64-52 win over Iona.
“It’s totally different,” Cherry said. “Just getting used to being able to see out of it and breathe with it on is tough.”
But on Sunday, Cherry found her groove.
The sophomore led UNC in scoring with 24 points and chipped in four assists en route to a 70-63 win over Yale to cap off an undefeated weekend.
After a rough outing the day before, Cherry knocked down a pair of 3-pointers early in Sunday's contest to help the Tar Heels to a 12-point lead at halftime.
“Just to see those two threes (go) in — because the past few days I haven’t been hitting shots — was very confidence-building,” she said.