University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
East Carolina
Shegog, Gross Lead No. 23 North Carolina Past ECU, 65-61
December 20, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2011
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) -- With over a third of her players out injured, North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said she is just happy to get to the Christmas break with an 8-2 record.
The No. 23 Tar Heels used a rotation of eight players to hang on for a 65-61 win over East Carolina on Tuesday night and now have nine days off to try and get a few players back.
"Somebody just asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I said some healthy players," Hatchell said. "We've got five players out and three of them are starters."
In a game where neither team led by more than six, North Carolina's size proved decisive in the end. The Tar Heels twice pulled down rebounds after missing free throws in the final 23 seconds, keeping the Pirates (6-4) from getting a chance to pull off their first upset of a Top 25 team in four years.
"Down the stretch we had some big rebounds, some really big rebounds that made a difference," Hatchell said.
North Carolina survived another low scoring night. The Tar Heels came into their two games in Myrtle Beach leading the nation at 87.5 points a game, but scored just 48 in a loss to South Carolina on Sunday and 65 in Tuesday's win.
"Our offense will pick up a little more," Hatchell said. "Just getting one or two of our regular starters out there will make a difference."
After Chareya Smith's layup tied the game at 51 with 6:25 to go, the Tar Heels appeared to take over. Chay Shegog got the ball inside and hit a short jumper. Danielle Butts stole the ball on the next possession, then was fouled as she hit a fast-break layup. She missed the free throw, but North Carolina got the rebound and pushed it inside to Shegog again. Her layup put the Tar Heels ahead 57-51, their largest lead of the game.
But the Pirates weren't finished. After a time-out, Krisine Mial, a starter who played just 12 minutes because of foul trouble, hit a 3-pointer with 5:22 to go. The Pirates then used a couple of back door cuts to get a pair of layups that left them down 59-58 with 2:45 to go.
East Carolina had four chances to take the lead, but couldn't get shots to fall.
"We got great looks at the basket," Pirates coach Heather Macy said. "Late in the game you've got to convert those."
Krista Gross' putback with 1:05 to go put North Carolina ahead 61-58. East Carolina missed two shots on its next possession. She'la White made a free throw and North Carolina rebounded her miss on the second shot. Shannon Smith would make one of her two foul shots for North Carolina and the Pirates never had a chance to tie or take the lead again.
"Carolina is a really good basketball team, -- much bigger than we are. They used our strength to push us under and got a tip and we just didn't come up with the loose ball," Macy said.
Shegog scored 19 points and Gross had 12 points and 12 rebounds for North Carolina. A pair of Tar Heel freshmen also came up big, with Brittany Roundtree scoring 12 points and Butts adding 10.
"I thought we showed a lot of heart in the second half. We had to dig deep. At one time I had four freshmen out there. They're being thrown in the fire and they're having to learn," Hatchell said.
Chareya Smith led East Carolina with 14 points, while Tatiana Chapple added 11 points and seven rebounds. Shala Hodges scored 12 points and Celeste Stewart added 10 for East Carolina.
The game against North Carolina was the start of a tough three-game stretch for the Pirates, who face No. 19 Delaware next in a holiday tournament and could end up with a game against No. 5 Maryland.
Hatchell brought her team to Myrtle Beach for a December "home" game for a 17th straight year. And she and Macy have a special bond with the region. Hatchell won two national titles about 60 miles away at Division II Francis Marion and heavily works the high schools in northeast South Carolina. Macy also coached at Francis Marion, going 75-19 at the school before becoming the Pirates coach in 2010.
East Carolina and North Carolina were frequent rivals in the infancy of women's basketball, playing each other 25 times. But before Tuesday, they hadn't played each other since 1999.
Macy hopes the two teams can start playing regularly soon, and wouldn't mind if the game between the Pirates and the Tar Heels became a regular fixture in Myrtle Beach.
"There was a ton of Florence people in the stands. That was neat," Macy said. "Coach Hatchell, obviously I have so much respect for her and I am proud to call her a friend."
