University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Virginia
No. 2 Carolina Vanquishes Virginia, 103-74
January 16, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2009
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Second-ranked North Carolina made its latest Atlantic Coast Conference victory look easy despite facing a ranked team. It was the perfect preparation for a much bigger test: top-ranked Connecticut.
Rashanda McCants had 23 points to help the Tar Heels beat No. 14 Virginia 103-74 on Friday night, setting up a possible 1-vs-2 matchup against the Huskies next week.
Chay Shegog added 17 points for the Tar Heels (17-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who got off to a slow start before taking control late in the first half. North Carolina used a 17-6 run spanning halftime and scored on its first four possessions after the break to take a double-digit lead, then coasted from there.
It was a good way for the Tar Heels to head into Monday's game against Connecticut, which must beat Syracuse on Saturday to set up a meeting of unbeaten teams. The Tar Heels led by as many as 32 points, had 11 players score and held the Cavaliers to 38-percent shooting.
If UConn beats Syracuse, it will mark the third time the Tar Heels have played in a 1-vs-2 game in four seasons. The previous two times came against ACC and instate rival Duke in 2006 and 2007.
"We just have a lot of kids who are stepping up," coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "I said this to you guys a couple of months ago: this team is going to get better. And we are. We're getting better. And we're going to get a lot better than we are now."
Monica Wright scored 24 points for the Cavaliers (14-3, 1-1), while Lyndra Littles had 21. But the rest of the team managed a combined 29 points on 9-for-34 shooting, making it difficult for the Cavs to keep up once the Tar Heels got going.
North Carolina was coming off a woeful shooting day in last weekend's 75-66 overtime win against rival North Carolina State. In that game, the Tar Heels shot 36 percent and missed 21 of 23 3-pointers before holding on to give Hatchell her 800th career coaching victory.
This time, the Tar Heels shook off a 2-for-11 start before finishing at 45 percent, including 9-for-22 from 3-point range. They also took a 51-43 rebounding advantage after being beaten on the boards by the Wolfpack on Sunday, including 17 second-chance points.
North Carolina came into the season with less star power than past years. Stars like Ivory Latta, Camille Little and Erlana Larkins are gone, leaving Hatchell with a deep and athletic bunch that is getting contributions from throughout the lineup.
"They're very balanced," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "They have a good inside-out game. I just think they're so deep, it's difficult to play against them. They don't have to worry about playing defense because they can score. They can really, really score. It's really difficult because they play at such a fast pace."
Top scorer Jessica Breland, who left the N.C. State game with a sprained right ankle, had 11 points, six rebounds and six blocks. Italee Lucas finished with 16 points, six rebounds and eight assists, while backcourtmate Cetera DeGraffenreid had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Tar Heels had six players with at least six boards.
"You could definitely feel the energy," said McCants, who had eight rebounds. "It was an energy we probably haven't felt in the last couple of games. The way that it feels now, you want that feeling every game. We're definitely going to push for that for the rest of the games throughout the season to get better and have that feeling throughout."
Virginia didn't have anywhere near that kind of balance, with Aisha Mohammed as the only other double-figure scorer at 13 points.
The Cavaliers hit 11 of 19 shots to open the game and trailed 33-31 on Littles' 3 with 4:46 left in the first half, but they managed just one field goal the rest of the period while the Tar Heels pushed out in front and led 43-34 on She'la White's jumper just before the halftime horn.
North Carolina came out of the half with another burst, getting a layup from a cutting McCants off a feed from Christina Dewitt followed by a transition layup from DeGraffenreid to take a 50-37 lead with 18:31 to play.
From there, the lead only grew. At one point, things were going so well for the Tar Heels that Lucas took a pass in transition, paused long enough to step back behind the arc and bury a 3 that gave North Carolina a 91-59 lead with 5 1/2 minutes left.
It was the most points ever scored by the Tar Heels against the Cavaliers and marked their 13th straight win in the series.
