Sunday, November 29
Chapel Hill
1:00 PM
North Carolina
3-0,0-0ACC
95
vs
70
High Point
0-1,0-0Big South
1
2
3
4
F
High Point
32
11
14
13
70
North Carolina
14
24
24
33
95
Stephanie Watts led UNC with 21 points and 12 rebounds in a comeback win over High Point.
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Experience Leads Tar Heels In Win Over High Point
November 29, 2020 | Women's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina women's basketball team improved to 3-0 Sunday with a homecourt win over High Point, 95-70. The game had a whiplash quality to it, with High Point leading by 21 points early before UNC calmly came back and won by 25.
Graduate student guard Stephanie Watts came off the bench to lead UNC with 21 points and 12 rebounds, and freshman Alyssa Ustby also had a double-double off the bench with 15 points and 11 boards.
From the starting lineup, senior Janelle Bailey scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds and grad student Petra Holešínská added 12 points. Freshman forward Anya Poole came off the bench for 15 points and six rebounds, all offensive.
After the game, UNC coach Courtney Banghart credited her team's veterans for setting the tone and not allowing their teammates to be shaken by the deficit.
"We've got a lot of pieces but in some games what you need is those that have been there before," Banghart said. "Hats off to Janelle and Watts and Petra, who flexed their muscle when we needed it."
After Holešínská hit the first bucket of the game to put UNC up 2-0, the Panthers (0-1) scored 20 points in a row, with the first 17 of those by junior guard Skyler Curran. The Big South Conference Preseason Player of the Year finished the first quarter with 22 points, including 5-for-7 shooting from three-point range.
HPU's largest lead, 32-11, came with 33 seconds to play in that first period. Watts had a jumper and a free throw to make it 32-14 heading into the second quarter.
The Tar Heels continued to chip away, outscoring their guests 24-11 over the next 10 minutes. Watt's three-pointer with 35 seconds to play in the first half cut the margin to single digits, 43-36, for good. The next time there was a double-digit lead in the game, it belonged to UNC.
The Panthers were up 43-38 at halftime and hung onto the lead until late in the third quarter. With three minutes to play in the period, the Tar Heels tied it at 55 on a three-point play by Ustby, who rebounded and put back her own miss then sank the free throw coming out of a timeout. That play came in the middle of a 14-0 run by the Tar Heels, who were up by five, 62-57, heading into the fourth quarter.
Carolina outscored High Point 33-13 in the final 10 minutes, shooting 12-15 from the field and hitting eight of nine free throw attempts.
Curran finished with 28 points for HPU and Jordan Edwards was also in double figures with 10.
UNC led 62-14 in points in the paint and 22-11 in points off turnovers. The Tar Heel bench accounted for 57 points, a high so far this season. (Over the team's first three outings, UNC has gotten a stellar 45 points per game from its bench.)
In addition to her team-best 21 points and 12 rebounds, Watts had six assists, five steals, a block and just one turnover in 28 minutes on the court. "Her stat line is one of the better stat lines I've seen, in a game when we needed her," Banghart said.
After opening the season with three games in a five-day stretch, the Tar Heels get a few days to breathe before two more home nonconference games this week. They'll face South Carolina State on Thursday at 6 p.m. then Charlotte on Sunday at 4 before diving into Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Carolina comes out of this first trio of games with six players averaging double figures and a seventh, freshman Kennedy Todd-Williams, at 9.3 points per game. Bailey leads the team in rebounding with 7.7 per game, but three others are averaging six or more. All 12 players are averaging between eight and 25 minutes per game. "Over the course of these three games," Banghart said, "everybody had their moment to really be helpful to the team."
Gallery: (11-29-2020) Tar Heels Top Panthers 95-70
Graduate student guard Stephanie Watts came off the bench to lead UNC with 21 points and 12 rebounds, and freshman Alyssa Ustby also had a double-double off the bench with 15 points and 11 boards.
From the starting lineup, senior Janelle Bailey scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds and grad student Petra Holešínská added 12 points. Freshman forward Anya Poole came off the bench for 15 points and six rebounds, all offensive.
What a comeback! 👏👏👏
Highlights from today's win over High Point ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/9ulSrC5sFC— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) November 29, 2020
After the game, UNC coach Courtney Banghart credited her team's veterans for setting the tone and not allowing their teammates to be shaken by the deficit.
"We've got a lot of pieces but in some games what you need is those that have been there before," Banghart said. "Hats off to Janelle and Watts and Petra, who flexed their muscle when we needed it."
After Holešínská hit the first bucket of the game to put UNC up 2-0, the Panthers (0-1) scored 20 points in a row, with the first 17 of those by junior guard Skyler Curran. The Big South Conference Preseason Player of the Year finished the first quarter with 22 points, including 5-for-7 shooting from three-point range.
HPU's largest lead, 32-11, came with 33 seconds to play in that first period. Watts had a jumper and a free throw to make it 32-14 heading into the second quarter.
The Tar Heels continued to chip away, outscoring their guests 24-11 over the next 10 minutes. Watt's three-pointer with 35 seconds to play in the first half cut the margin to single digits, 43-36, for good. The next time there was a double-digit lead in the game, it belonged to UNC.
The Panthers were up 43-38 at halftime and hung onto the lead until late in the third quarter. With three minutes to play in the period, the Tar Heels tied it at 55 on a three-point play by Ustby, who rebounded and put back her own miss then sank the free throw coming out of a timeout. That play came in the middle of a 14-0 run by the Tar Heels, who were up by five, 62-57, heading into the fourth quarter.
Carolina outscored High Point 33-13 in the final 10 minutes, shooting 12-15 from the field and hitting eight of nine free throw attempts.
Curran finished with 28 points for HPU and Jordan Edwards was also in double figures with 10.
UNC led 62-14 in points in the paint and 22-11 in points off turnovers. The Tar Heel bench accounted for 57 points, a high so far this season. (Over the team's first three outings, UNC has gotten a stellar 45 points per game from its bench.)
In addition to her team-best 21 points and 12 rebounds, Watts had six assists, five steals, a block and just one turnover in 28 minutes on the court. "Her stat line is one of the better stat lines I've seen, in a game when we needed her," Banghart said.
After opening the season with three games in a five-day stretch, the Tar Heels get a few days to breathe before two more home nonconference games this week. They'll face South Carolina State on Thursday at 6 p.m. then Charlotte on Sunday at 4 before diving into Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Carolina comes out of this first trio of games with six players averaging double figures and a seventh, freshman Kennedy Todd-Williams, at 9.3 points per game. Bailey leads the team in rebounding with 7.7 per game, but three others are averaging six or more. All 12 players are averaging between eight and 25 minutes per game. "Over the course of these three games," Banghart said, "everybody had their moment to really be helpful to the team."
Team Stats
HP
UNC
FG%
.356
.468
3FG%
.342
.286
FT%
.789
.773
RB
29
56
TO
17
9
STL
2
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
Center
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
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