University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Austin Peay
No. 2 Carolina Defeats Austin Peay, 93-61
December 30, 2008 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - As nonconference games go, No. 2 North Carolina's 93-61 thumping of Austin Peay made for a good practice.
"Our practices are pretty intense. We go hard," Tar Heel forward Rashanda McCants said. "It's a lot more fun to play a game than practice."
Playing in an afternoon time slot normally reserved for practices in the Smith Center, the Tar Heels did their best Tuesday to force Austin Peay into a running game. Despite North Carolina forcing 25 turnovers and leading by as much as 87-46 with 5:20 to play, coach Sylvia Hatchell wasn't happy.
"We'll be out here tomorrow, running," Hatchell said. "We didn't meet some of our numbers."
Hatchell's last word to her Tar Heels before they hit the court was "rebound." They outrebounded Austin Peay 48-45--still too close for Hatchell -- and she was downright mad about the Lady Govs' 25-18 advantage in offensive rebounds.
"We pride ourselves on defense and rebounding," Austin Peay coach Carrie Daniels said. "But even that was lacking at times."
The Lady Govs bothered North Carolina some in the paint, resulting in the Tar Heels' 35-for-72 shooting (48.6 percent). But even outside the arc, North Carolina overwhelmed Austin Peay.
Italee Lucas hit four of five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 18 points for North Carolina (14-0).
"I didn't realize I was hitting that hot," Lucas said.
McCants added 14 points, while Jessica Breland and She'la White each had 11.
Reserve Jasmine Raynor led Austin Peay (5-8) with 17 points as the Lady Govs lost for the third time in four games. April Thomas had 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Whitney Hanley scored 10 points.
After McCants scored eight points in an initial 18-3 run in the opening 7:53 of play, North Carolina went on to lead 47-23 at the half.
"I'm not going to lie. We had some jitters on our side," Daniels said. "We're a young team, and we learned a lot. Coming in here, against the No. 2 in the country, in this atmosphere, there were a lot of jitters."
Austin Peay made just 8of-36 (22.2 percent) of its first-half shots and 21-of-73 (28.8 percent) total.
"People will look at that 32-point margin and they'll think Carolina ran away with it and they did but we were able to get ourselves together some and fight back," Daniels said. "I'm proud of the team for that."
The win was North Carolina's 29th consecutive victory at home and No. 798 for Hatchell as the Tar Heels' head coach.
