University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Gardner-Webb
No. 11 Tar Heels Down Gardner-Webb, 81-65
December 13, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - The starting backcourt of juniors Cetera DeGraffenreid and Italee Lucas has done a solid job leading No. 11 North Carolina this season.
But on Sunday, against upset-minded Gardner-Webb, the duo was absolutely dominant.
DeGraffenreid had 19 points and eight rebounds, while Lucas added 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals in the Tar Heels' 81-65 victory.
It was scheduled to be the final game for UNC (8-1) in its temporary home at the Smith Center this season before the team moves back to refurbished Carmichael Auditorium.
Dominique Hudson had 17 points to lead Gardner-Webb (8-2), which had a school Division-I record eight-game winning streak snapped in the schools' first meeting. Courtney Epps added 16 for the Bulldogs, while Margaret Roundtree added 12 and 6-foot-6 center Sandra Vaitkute 10.
North Carolina shot 41.2 percent for the game to 32.8 for the Runnin' Bulldogs, had a 47-44 rebound advantage and committed 24 turnovers to the visitors' 27. Gardner-Webb hit 21 of 23 free-throw attempts.
"They're our leaders, and they've been playing well," North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said of her starting guards. "I started two freshmen (center Waltiea Rolle and wing Tierra Ruffin-Pratt), a sophomore (forward Chay Shegog) and two juniors and they're all getting some experience, which is good. We'll narrow down the playing time as it goes along. We've just got to keep getting better, and we've got to be aggressive without fouling.
"Gardner-Webb is good team - physical, too. We had 109 possessions and I like that, but I don't like 24 turnovers."
The Tar Heels led 35-24 at halftime behind eight points from DeGraffenreid. UNC shot 34.3 percent in the first half, but Gardner-Webb was worse at 23.3.
Gardner-Webb led by two points on three occasions early in the game in which there were six ties and five lead changes.
But with the visitors leading 12-11, the Tar Heels went on an 11-0 run, with Lucas getting both the go-ahead points on a layup at 11:29 and ending it on a 3-pointer at 10:03.
"I'm definitely trying to get more assists and rebounds - that's a pretty big focus," Lucas said. "With our younger post players, when they get used to when the ball is coming, all our assists will definitely go up."
Gardner-Webb cut the margin to 53-47 with 10:36 left on a layup from Roundtree. But the Tar Heels responded with the next nine points, five from DeGraffenreid and four from Lucas, to regain some breathing room.
"My biggest fear was we were going to come out and look at those jerseys and get afraid, and I think that's what happened to us," Gardner-Webb coach Rick Reeves said. "I told them at halftime, 'When do we turn the ball over 20 times?' And we turned the ball over 20 times in the first half.
"But again I've got to give Carolina credit. They're a very good team and forced some of those. The Big South is more of a finesse league, a good shooting league, and the ACC is more of a physical league. We learned a lot. I wanted to schedule them right before we got into conference play."
UNC's biggest lead was 21 points on four occasions.
