With Five In Double Figures, Tar Heels Top Illinois 85-60

Thursday, December 5

Chapel Hill, N.C.

6 PM

North Carolina

Illinois

Senior Taylor Koenen scored a career-high 23 points against Illinois.

Photo by: Dana Gentry

December 5, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Watch Highlights Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – With five Tar Heels scoring in double figures and three of those registering double-doubles, the North Carolina women's basketball team beat visiting Illinois 85-60 in Big Ten/ACC Challenge play Thursday evening at Carmichael Arena. The win boosted UNC to 7-0 this season, while the Fighting Illini fell to 6-2.

Tar Heel senior Taylor Koenen led all scorers with a career-high 23 points and added a season-high 11 rebounds for her ninth career double-double and first this season. Junior Janelle Bailey had 13 points and 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season and 30^th of her career. Senior Shayla Bennett had 11 points and a team-high 10 assists for her second double-double of the year.

Junior Leah Church came off the bench for a season-high 13 points on four three-pointers and a free throw that capped a four-point play midway through the third quarter. Senior Madinah Muhammad added 12 points.

"We're just about team ball and we know that's going to take us far," Bailey said. "We know selfishness won't get us anywhere."

UNC is back in action on Sunday, hosting N.C. Central for a 2 p.m. game at Carmichael Arena.

Against Illinois, the Tar Heels jumped out to an early lead, leading 13-3 just over three minutes into the game following Bailey's first three-pointer of the season. She scored nine of the team's first 13 points to fuel the quick start for UNC.

The Illini then used a 6-0 run to pull within four, 13-9, with 4:40 to play in the first quarter, but Tar Heel freshman Malu Tshitenge scored on a second-chance basket to make the UNC lead six and after that Illinois never got closer. The Tar Heels hit threes on three consecutive possessions at the end of the first quarter – Koenen, then Muhammad, then Koenen again – to stretch the lead to 15, and by the end of the period it was 29-11, with UNC shooting 57.9 percent from the field, 62.5 from three.

The Fighting Illini were never closer than 14 points after that, and UNC led 43-26 at the break. UNC's cushion stretched to as many as 28 after halftime. Senior guard Brandi Beasley came off the bench lead Illinois with 13 points.

For the game, the Tar Heels outrebounded the Illini 43-30. The scoring total tied UNC's second-highest of the season (Carolina also had 85 against Charleston Southern, and opened the season with 92 against Western Carolina.)

UNC made 10 of 12 free throws for its highest foul shooting percentage of the season (.833).

The Tar Heels had a season-high 22 assists on 32 made baskets.

"I've asked them to recognize that their strength is their depth and their balance, and 22 assists on 32 made field goals speaks to that," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. "We're all trying to do the same thing and that is bring this team as far as it can go. We all have a piece in that and people are bringing what they can to that table."