The North Carolina women’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday against Alabama, 83-77.
What happened?
After falling to an early deficit against the Crimson Tide, the Tar Heels found their touch offensively at the mid way point of the first quarter, taking the lead for the first time at the five minute mark by way of a three pointer from senior guard Taylor Koenen.
Both sides did well on the offensive end throughout the period, with North Carolina maintaining its lead through a high scoring first quarter, 26-23.
Coming out of the break, both sides would continue their offensive success. Koenen and junior forward Janelle Bailey were particularly impressive for North Carolina, with the two finishing the first half with nine and 10 points, respectively.
The second quarter saw multiple lead changes, with both teams scoring at a high level. Still, the Tar Heels went into halftime with a lead, 43-40, as they have in all nine games up until this point of the season.
Alabama came out of the locker room hot, turning their three point deficit into a 50-45 lead four minutes into the third quarter. Guards Brittany Davis and Megan Abrams were particularly impressive for the Crimson Tide, with both of the sophomores finishing the double digits within the second half.
The three ball was not dropping for Alabama throughout the game, with the team only hitting its mark on four attempts overall for the game, but success in ball movement and interior penetration from its guards made the game competitive.
Despite Alabama’s offensive success, North Carolina went into the fourth quarter maintaining a slight edge, 64-62.
