University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
North Carolina Central
No. 10 UNC Dominates North Carolina Central, 98-45
February 1, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Italee Lucas continued her strong offensive play a game after putting up her career-high point total.
Lucas scored 17 of her 19 points in the first half to help No. 10 North Carolina defeat North Carolina Central 98-45 on Sunday. She made her first five shots -- all 3-pointers -- including one that opened the scoring just 7 seconds into the game.
"When I hit that first one, I kind of felt like I was going to have a good night," said Lucas, who finished 6-for-10 from the floor. "It felt good. The shots were just feeling good."
Rashanda McCants added 14 points for the Tar Heels (19-3), who scored the game's first 14 points and led 19-1 before the Eagles made their first field goal with 14:19 remaining in the first half.
North Carolina, which led 57-19 at halftime, shot 54.9 percent from the field en route to totaling at least 90 points for the 10th time this season.
The Tar Heels, who struggled past Wake Forest 77-66 on Thursday thanks to 27 points from Lucas, got back on track after suffering through a three-game losing streak that featured a pair of conference defeats and an 88-58 walloping at the hands of No. 1 Connecticut.
"After the losses, we had some practices where I about killed them," North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "They didn't enjoy those practices. Hopefully, that made an impact on them where they don't want to go there anymore."
It took a while for the message to resonate against N.C. Central (8-15), a team from nearby Durham, N.C., playing in its second year as a Division I member.
Hatchell removed her five starters 55 seconds into the game because of three mental mistakes. Then she watched her team allow outsized N.C. Central to grab 12 offensive rebounds in the game's first 13 minutes.
Even with the extra chances, the Eagles struggled to score. They missed their first 14 shots from the field and committed five turnovers before Genevieve Hyman made a layup to cut UNC's lead to 19-3.
The story of the game rested in each team's first 25 shots from the floor. While the Eagles made three, the Tar Heels made 17.
UNC connected on seven of its first nine 3-point attempts, including four by Lucas in a six-possession span that put the Tar Heels ahead 36-7 with 10:45 to play in the first half.
Chasidy Williams scored 22 points to lead the Eagles, who shot just 23.9 percent from the field. They finished with seven assists and 21 turnovers.
N.C. Central played for the first time this season without leading scorer and rebounder Jori Nwachukwu, who is out for the rest of the year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. Yet the Eagles showed improvement from last season's matchup against North Carolina, a 109-32 victory by the Tar Heels that stands as the most lopsided victory in UNC history and the most lopsided loss in N.C. Central history.
"The great thing about our team today is that they continued to play 40 minutes of basketball," N.C. Central coach Joli Robinson said. "They didn't give up, they didn't fall apart, they tried to do the things that we asked them to do and they fought."
