Despite Five In Double Figures, Tar Heels Fall At Alabama

Sunday, December 15

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

3 PM ET

North Carolina

8-1,0-0ACC

Alabama

7-3,0-0SEC

North Carolina

Alabama

Photo courtesy of Alabama Athletic Communications

December 15, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The UNC women's basketball team fell 83-77 at Alabama Sunday afternoon, suffering the season's first loss in the season's first road game, despite five Tar Heels in double figures.

UNC is now 8-1 on the season heading into Friday's game against UNCW in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Alabama improved to 7-3 with the win.

Playing at Coleman Coliseum, senior guard Madinah Muhammad led UNC with 20 points, including 8-for-9 free throw shooting. Senior guard Taylor Koenen scored 16, freshman forward Malu Tshitenge had 13 and junior center Janelle Bailey and senior guard Shayla Bennett finished with 10 points each. Bailey led UNC on the boards with 11 for her sixth double-double of the year.

Now on the other side of final exams week, the Tar Heels got a learning experience on the court. The first true road game of the season was different from the start, as instead of entering to "Here Comes Carolina" by the Tar Heel pep band, UNC took the floor to the strains of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year."

UNC played two games away from Chapel Hill at the Cancun Challenge over Thanksgiving, but in both cases the crowds were small and there was not a homecourt advantage for either team. In this case, the home crowd of 2,2 35 was vocal, and got even more reason to be excited as the Crimson Tide built an early lead, going up by eight (11-3) just over three minutes into the game. It was Carolina's largest deficit of the season thus far and turned out to be UNC's biggest hole of the game.

"The fans were totally into it, as you'd expect," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. "We're an 8-0 team in their gym and they're excited. We've earned that environment, which is great."

The Tar Heels clawed back with buckets by Tshitenge and Bailey, then took the lead with three-pointers on three consecutive possessions. First it was Bailey, then Koenen, then Muhammad to put UNC up by three, 16-13. Bennett kept it rolling with a three of her own, then junior Leah Church subbed in and nailed another three with her only shot of the game to make it 22-14 Tar Heels with 2:31 to play in the first quarter.

That proved to be the Tar Heels' largest lead of the game, and the flurry accounted for the majority of the team's three-point success: UNC was 5-for-8 (with makes by five different players) in the first quarter and finished 7-of-17 for the game.

In the second period, UNC stretched its lead to seven on a steal and lay-up by Koenen with two minutes to play before halftime, but the Tar Heels closed out the period with the same three-point advantage they brought into it as each team managed 17 points in that period. Carolina led 43-40 at the break, but went into the second half with foul trouble, with starting guards Muhammad and Bennett carrying three each.

Bennett picked up her fourth a minute into the third quarter. The Tar Heels hit just seven of 18 shots in the third period (38.9 percent) but were helped by six-for-six free throw shooting (five of those by Muhammad) and still held a two-point advantage, 64-62, heading into the final 10 minutes.

But the Crimson Tide dominated down the stretch, outscoring UNC 21-13 and outrebounding the Tar Heels 15-8 in the final period. Alabama took the lead for good at the 6:11 mark on a three by Brittany Davis that made it 73-70 in favor of the hosts. Carolina was within two, 79-77, with 90 seconds to play but didn't score again.

Davis came off the bench to finish with a game-high 26 points, the most by a Tar Heel opponent this season. Alabama's 83 points marked a team scoring high by UNC opponents. (The previous high was 69 by another Southeastern Conference opponent, Missouri.)

"I thought our kids were gritty throughout," Banghart said. "Foul trouble early forced us to be really tentative defensively – we've shown ourselves to be a good defensive team, but our foul trouble led to us giving them way too many easy baskets. The fact we were able to hang into the game without our staple defense says a lot.

"It was really good to get meaningful minutes for two freshmen [Nia Daniel with 13 minutes and Kennady Tucker with nine] and I hope we can build on that as we talk about getting deeper."

Another opportunity for improvement comes on Friday, when the Tar Heels take on the Seahawks. After that they're idle for just over a week before hosting Yale on Dec. 28 then opening Atlantic Coast Conference play at home against Pitt on Dec. 30.

"With no classes, we'll focus on basketball and try to keep getting better," Banghart said. "We'll end on the road, give these guys a chance to be with their loved ones, and then get ready for ACC play."