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The Daily Tar Heel

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.

When the Bulldogs inched closer several times during Sunday’s contest, it was Cherry who faced the challenge.

She hit a layup with two seconds to go in the first half to extend the double-digit lead. And when Yale tightened the score to four points in the third quarter, Cherry once again drove to the basket and made a layup, drawing a foul and converting the 3-point opportunity on the ensuing free throw.

“We’re just trying to give her screens out front,” Hatchell said. “She’s so good at reading them and either taking it in and scoring or finding somebody. She’s about the best there is at doing that.”

Senior N’Dea Bryant was often on the receiving end of Cherry’s passes off high screens. The forward recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and a career-best 13 rebounds on Sunday.

“Usually my teammates find me on the open shots,” Bryant said. “When Jamie drives, it’s usually just a kick-off. Getting those easy layups makes taking shots a little bit easier.”

And when the Tar Heels needed to close out the game in the last minute, Cherry went 7-of-8 from the free-throw line to ice the contest.

“We try to keep the ball in her hands,” Hatchell said. “We knew if they fouled her she’s going to make (them) too.”

@davidrallenjr

sports@dailytarheel.com

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