CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As the North Carolina women's basketball team struggled in the early minutes of its Jumpman Invitational clash against Michigan, the player that gave the Wolverines their first double-digit lead wasn’t even on head coach Courtney Banghart’s scouting report.
“I first was like, ‘Who the hell is that?’” Banghart said.
With just under three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Michigan's first-year forward Chyra Evans launched a shot — the first 3-point attempt of her collegiate career — from the top of the key over a leaping Destiny Adams. The ball rolled in, and just like that, the Wolverines had a 24-13 lead.
No. 19 Michigan hardly relinquished this lead as the game continued, going on to win the Jumpman Invitational and upset No. 6 UNC by a score of 76-68. North Carolina’s disastrous first quarter, in which the team conceded 35 points and four 3-pointers, proved to be the deciding factor in the game.
With the threat of 6-foot-3 graduate forward Emily Kiser — who entered Tuesday’s matchup averaging 19 points per game — UNC’s defensive focus was almost entirely predicated on shutting down paint. The Wolverines took advantage of this by lighting it up from the perimeter, especially fifth-year guard Leigha Brown, who knocked down three triples in the opening quarter.
“The first three I had, I noticed they were just going to lay under the ball screen, so I was like, ‘Let’s see what happens here,’” Brown said. “I had to, hopefully, make them guard me somehow. Luckily I was able to hit a few of those tonight and it opened up a lot of things.”
By the end of the first quarter, you could sense the frustration from UNC’s bench. After a baseline jumper from Brown swished through the net to end the period, redshirt first-year Kayla McPherson bent over in her chair and slapped the court several times. Staff members at the end of the bench smacked their hands and a shout of “that’s her shot!” rang out.
To UNC’s credit, Brown had only hit three 3-pointers in her 10 games prior to Tuesday's contest. Banghart reminded North Carolina during one of its timeouts, however, that the Tar Heels shouldn’t be surprised by Michigan's performance.
“We knew this is a really experienced group,” Banghart said. “Good players have to play well in big games, and they did that. So really, credit to them. They’re forcing them out of what they want to do, and that’s a good thing. We wanted to concede the perimeter to Leigha and instead help to the post, and she made the shots, so good for her.”
