Carolina Gets First Road Test At Alabama Sunday

Sunday, December 15

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

3 PM ET

North Carolina

Alabama

The Tar Heels have had plenty to celebrate through their first eight games of the season.

December 14, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes

By: UNC Athletic Communications

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – After a week off during fall semester exams, the Tar Heels traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday and will face the Crimson Tide on Sunday 3 PM ET at Coleman Coliseum. It's UNC's first true road game of the season – thus far the Tar Heels, in their first season under head coach Courtney Banghart, have played six games at home and two at a neutral site in Cancun, Mexico.

By the Numbers
• UNC last started 8-0 in 2014-15, when the Tar Heels won their first nine games en route to a 26-9 season.
• The win over N.C. Central in UNC's last outing (Dec. 8) was the first time this season the Tar Heels have had fewer than four players in double figures. In that game, three hit double digits, but two others were close with nine points each.
• The Tar Heels have been idle for a week during UNC's final exam period.
• All five starters are averaging in double figures.
• UNC is leading the ACC in scoring average (82.88 ppg) and scoring margin (+28.50). The Tar Heels are also first in the conference in assist/turnover ratio at 1.41.

The road less traveled
Sunday's game at Alabama is UNC's first true road game of the season, and the Tar Heels won't play another until 2020.
• Next up for UNC is a neutral-site game in Myrtle Beach, S.C., against UNCW on Dec. 20. That gametime has been changed to 7:30 p.m. (from 7). The Tar Heels then close the year with two home games on Dec. 28 and 30.
• UNC will play back-to-back home games on five more occasions this season, but the season-opening four-game stretch is the only time the Tar Heels will be home for more than two in a row.

UNC vs. Alabama
• UNC and Alabama last played in the 1999 NCAA Tournament. In a second-round game in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels won 70-56.
They advanced on to play Purdue in the Midwest Region semifinal in Normal, Ill. The Boilermakers won 82-59 en route to the NCAA Championship. A month later, they had a new coach in Kristy Curry, now the coach at Alabama.
• UNC and Alabama met twice that year, also playing during the regular season. In the ACC-SEC Challenge in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Dec. 20, 1999, UNC won 90-75.

Now playing in Carmichael
The next basketball game played in Carmichael Arena will involve UNC, but not the women's team. While the Tar Heels travel to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama on Dec. 15, the UNC men will host Wofford that day at Carmichael. Tipoff is 4 p.m.
The shift is because UNC's winter commencement is taking place at the Dean E. Smith Center that day. It's the first regular-season men's game at Carmichael since the Smith Center opened in 1986. (The UNC men played an NIT game at Carmichael in 2010.)