No. 24 WBB Rolls To Homecourt Win Over Miami

Sunday, February 6

Chapel Hill

Noon

North Carolina

18-4,8-4ACC

Miami

12-9,5-6ACC

Miami (FL)

North Carolina

The Tar Heels debuted new white-with-pink-accents uniforms in Sunday's win over Miami.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

February 6, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – With the four sophomore starters all scoring in double figures and three other Tar Heels each contributing eight points or more, the No. 24 North Carolina women's basketball team routed Miami 85-38 on Sunday afternoon at Carmichael Arena. Carolina led 28-2 after 10 minutes and kept rolling from there to improve to 18-4 on the season, 8-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference play and 10-1 at home.

Next up for UNC is another home game, on Thursday at 6 p.m. against Pitt.

Sunday's 47-point margin of victory was UNC's largest in ACC play since the 2006-07 season, when the Tar Heels beat Wake Forest by 49.

"My guys just keep getting better and it's fun to watch," said UNC coach Courtney Banghart, who was honored before the game for having notched her 300th career win on Thursday. "I thought defensively we're strong on our own but we're best when we're together. There was really no 1-v-1 play. We handled their pressure really well by being aggressive and trusting one another."

On the offensive end, Deja Kelly led Carolina with 18 points, powered by a second quarter in which she nailed four three-pointers on four attempts in a span of less than two minutes right before halftime. She also handed out a game-high five assists, equal to her season high.

Kennedy Todd-Williams scored a career-high 16 points, hitting double figures for the seventh game in a row, and didn't turn the ball over once in 28 minutes of play.

Alyssa Ustby finished with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season and 11^th of her career.

Anya Poole scored five points in the first 2:11 of the game and finished with 10 points and seven boards in 17 minutes of play.

Poole's early five and four by Ustby put the Tar Heels up 9-0 with 7:49 to play in the first quarter. The Tar Heels shot 57.9 percent from the field, the best in a first quarter against ACC play this season and second best overall, on the way to a 28-2 lead 10 minutes into the game. Miami (12-9, 5-6) was just 1-for-17 from the field. It marked the ninth time this season and the second game in a row that the Tar Heels have held an opponent to single-digit scoring in the first quarter.

"I thought we played with a lot of good energy," Todd-Williams said. "Anya did a really, really good job and I'm very proud of her starting us off like that, her and Alyssa. I think we were all connected – it was a fun game to play and we'll just keep going from here."

Carolina was up 53-13 at the half after shooting 52.8 percent in the first 20 minutes, just the second time they've been above 50 percent for a half in a conference game this season. The 40-point margin marked the team's largest halftime lead in ACC play this season,

UNC cooled off after halftime, shooting 33.3 percent over the third and fourth quarters, but still finished at 44.4 percent for the game, the team's second-highest percentage in a conference game this year.

Kelsey Marshall scored 15 points to lead the Hurricanes, who swept UNC last year and had won eight of the past 11.

Carolina's free throw shooting was exceptional, with the Tar Heels hitting 20 of 21 on the day to finish at 95.2 percent, their best performance of the year.

UNC won the rebounding battle 53-34.