University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Coastal Carolina
Tar Heels Trounce Coastal Carolina, 80-48
February 24, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Feb 24, 2003
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell changed her starting lineup after a blowout loss at Duke last week. She had to be pleased with the results.
La'Tangela Atkinson and Candace Sutton each scored 13 points Monday night to lead the eighth-ranked Tar Heels past Coastal Carolina 80-48.
"After the Duke game, we needed a game where we just got after it and showed some intensity," Hatchell said.
The Tar Heels (24-3) lost to the No. 2 Blue Devils 97-63 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Thursday, allowing Duke to shoot 54 percent and take a 41-32 rebounding advantage. That prompted Hatchell to re-evaluate her team over the weekend.
"We start players based on a grading system," she said, "and all our guards graded so poorly against Duke, none of them could start this game."
Freshman Jessica Sell scored 12 points in her first career start, while Coretta Brown added 11 for the Tar Heels, who used a 21-0 first-half run to take control.
Joining Sell in the starting lineup were Candace Sutton, Jennifer Thomas, Carrie Davis and Jenni Laaksonen.
Nikki Reddick scored 12 for the Chanticleers (10-14), who shot 27 percent. Cyndie Troutman and Whitney Shearer each added 10 points.
Sell went 4-for-7 from 3-point range in 14 minutes.
"It was a great feeling to start. Real nice," Sell said. "You don't get many chances, especially when you're a freshman, and you just have to be ready when the chance comes."
Coastal Carolina led 10-9 before the Tar Heels' 21-point spurt. The Chanticleers went scoreless for 6˝ minutes during the run, and trailed 42-21 at halftime. Coastal Carolina shot 6-for-27 in the first half, including an 0-for-10 effort from 3-point range.
Atkinson had eight rebounds to lead the Tar Heels, who outrebounded the smaller Chanticleers 48-29. North Carolina had four starters standing 6-foot-1 or taller, while Coastal Carolina had just one starter taller than 5-8.
"They're obviously better than we are and obviously taller than we are," Coastal Carolina coach Alan LeForce said. "The margin of victory pretty accurately indicates the type of game it was. They beat us on the boards bad."
The Tar Heels shot 46 percent, but committed 25 turnovers. Their pressure defense forced Coastal Carolina into 24 turnovers and a 5-for-27 performance from 3-point range.
"We played with more intensity in spurts, but we're still not where we want to be defensively," Hatchell said. "A lot of our turnovers weren't because of pressure, but because of poor decision-making."
