Led By Tshitenge's 19, UNC Runs Away From UNCW, 85-45

Friday, December 20

Myrtle Beach, S.C.

7:30 PM

North Carolina

UNCW

Malu Tshitenge led UNC with 19 points in Friday's win over UNCW. (Photo by Bob McCool)

Photo by: UNC Athletic Communications

December 20, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Freshman forward Malu Tshitenge led five double-figure scorers as the North Carolina women's basketball team ran away from UNCW Friday night, winning 85-45 in a neutral-site matchup at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. Forty points equaled the largest margin of victory for UNC this season and sent the Tar Heels into the holiday break at 9-1.

UNC's next game is Dec. 28, when Carolina hosts Yale at Carmichael Arena for a 1 p.m. tipoff.

"I think I learned a lot about our team tonight – how they bounce back from a loss, and not just hating to lose but being accountable for how we win," said coach Courtney Banghart, whose team fell at Alabama on Sunday in the season's first defeat. "Defensively we were much more solid and offensively we shared it the way we know we should and can."

Against the Seahawks (3-8), the Tar Heels led from wire to wire, shooting 50 percent (32-64) from the field for the second-best field goal percentage of the season. After Tshitenge's 19 points, senior Madinah Muhammad scored 15, senior Taylor Koenen had 14, senior Shayla Bennett had 12 and junior Janelle Bailey had 10. It's the fifth time this season and the second game in a row that five Tar Heels have scored in double figures.

Bailey grabbed a team-best 15 rebounds to register her seventh double-double in the season's 10 games. Tshitenge had 10 boards, six of them offensive, for her third double-double as a Tar Heel.

As a team, Carolina outrebounded the Seahawks 47-29.

The Tar Heels pulled away from the start, despite chilly shooting. They led 19-7 after the first quarter having hit just six of their 17 shots but all six free throw attempts. Tshitenge had 13 points and six boards by halftime, when UNC led 42-20.

Carolina opened the second half with a 20-0 run to make the route into a runaway. UNC's other 40-point win came in the second game of the season, 80-40 over Navy at home.

For the game, the Tar Heels outscored UNCW 40-16 in the paint and got 21 second-chance points to the Seahawks' six.

Bailey had a career-best four assists and a season-high three blocks. Koenen also had three blocks, tying her career high, as UNC totaled a season-high eight.

As Carolina heads into the holiday break, Banghart complimented her players for what they've accomplished in their first 10 games.

"There's so much new – they have a new staff, they have a new offensive scheme, they have new defensive expectations," she said. "They've trusted me, they've trusted each other, and they've gotten themselves to a well-earned 9-1. They have a lot to be proud of.

"It's good they'll get some time now to be with their families. They've been totally invested in the newness that all of this has entailed and there's a mental fatigue that brings, so it's good they get a break and then we have one more game and then conference play."

After returning to campus, the Tar Heels play four games in the span of eight days: the final nonconference game on Dec. 28 vs. Yale, the Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Pitt at home on Dec. 30 and then road games against Virginia (Jan. 2) and Virginia Tech (Jan 5) to kick off 2020.