UNC Uses Balanced Scoring, Staunch Defense To Roll To 2-0

Saturday, November 28

Chapel Hill

1:00 PM

North Carolina

2-0,0-0ACC

UNC Greensboro

0-1,0-0SoCon

UNC Greensboro

North Carolina

The Tar Heels beat visiting UNCG 96-35 Saturday afternoon.

Photo by: Dana Gentry

November 28, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – With five players in double figures, North Carolina beat UNCG 96-35 Saturday afternoon in a women's basketball matchup at Carmichael Arena. The Tar Heels improved to 2-0 with the win, which marked the team's highest scoring output under second-year head coach Courtney Banghart.

Carolina now pivots quickly to its next game, less than 24 hours away. The Tar Heels host High Point on Sunday at 1 p.m. for their third game in a five-day, season-opening span.

Against UNCG, freshman forward Anya Poole came off the bench to lead all scorers with 15 points in less than 15 minutes (14:38) on the court. She hit both of her three-point attempts to help fuel the Tar Heels' 45-percent shooting (9-20) from long range. Graduate guard Petra Holešínská scored 14 points, including 4-for-5 shooting from three. Freshman guard Deja Kelly scored 13 points while handing out five assists.

Sophomore Ariel Young came off the bench for her first career double-double, scoring 11 points (4-5 from the field) and leading the team in rebounds with 10. Senior center Janelle Bailey scored 10 points and added eight rebounds.

Game 2 ✅ Highlights from today's win over UNCG ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/9qfUlVgyjC — Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) November 28, 2020

The game was close early. UNCG's Cece Crudup made a pair of free throws 1:18 into the action to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead, their only advantage of the game. The Tar Heels quickly took the lead and were up 9-6 heading into the first media timeout, with 4:23 to play in the first quarter.

Coming out of that timeout, Carolina closed the quarter with a 16-0 run, then kept rolling into the second. By the time UNCG scored again, on a free throw with 5:37 to play before halftime, UNC had scored 29 points in a row. The Tar Heels were up 51-11 at halftime and the margin never got closer than 40 after that.

"I thought this game we had way better defensive intensity," Bailey said. "I thought we picked that up, and that was something we harped on over the past few days. We have a quick turnaround for tomorrow against High Point, so we're going to watch film, correct the things we need to correct and just get ready for the next opponent."

• The game was a return to Carmichael for two former UNC players, Cetera DeGraffenried and Alex Miller, both assistant coaches at UNCG.

• It was also a return to the Carmichael court for graduate student Stephanie Watts, who spent four years at UNC (playing three of those) before transferring to Southern California for last season. She returned during the off-season for a final year of eligibility, but did not play in the opener on Wednesday due to injury. She came off the bench for 21 minutes of action Saturday, contributing four points, four assists and four steals. "It's good to have her back in Carolina blue ... or white," Bailey said, remembering what uniforms Tar Heels wore Saturday. "I definitely missed playing with her."

• UNC's previous high score under Banghart was 92 points, on two occasions last season, including the season opener on Nov. 7, a 92-55 win in the coach's first game as a Tar Heel.

• All 12 players on the Tar Heel roster spent at least nine minutes on the court vs. UNCG.

• The Tar Heels shot 78.6 percent from the field (11-14) in the second quarter.