Freshman Leads ODU in Win Against UNC

Since then, the 6-foot-6 Old Dominion freshman has spent them lighting up opposing basketball teams.

Saturday was no exception. Turner came off the bench for 21 points and 15 rebounds to send the Lady Monarchs past North Carolina 91-77 for their first win of the season.

"Certainly, Corrina Turner had her coming-out party today," ODU coach Wendy Larry said.

Turner just entered her third season of basketball. She scored eight points in the Monarchs' first two contests but quickly caused some jaws to drop Saturday at the Smith Center. The game was moved because of a wrestling tournament in Carmichael Auditorium.

Turner entered the game with her team trailing by 10 points early in the first half.

Less than eight minutes later, Turner won a battle on the offensive glass and scored a put-back to give the Lady Monarchs (1-2) the lead for good.

Her performance was indicative of a game for UNC (2-2) in which it could not get anything accomplished on the inside.

Turner matched up against UNC's own 6-6 freshman center: Candace Sutton. But Sutton could not hold her ground against her stronger counterpart, shooting 4-for-11 from the field and grabbing six rebounds.

"Well, Candace was sick before the game," UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "In the locker room, I asked her two or three times if she was all right. She wasn't feeling well, and I think she missed a lot of shots that she'd been making."

The Tar Heels as a whole struggled to get in position on the boards. ODU outrebounded them 47-33 overall and 22-17 on the offensive glass. Forward LaQuanda Barksdale led the way with eight rebounds and 27 points.

"They were coming up over top of us and tapping them loose, grabbing them over top of our heads and everything else," Hatchell said. "We were there sometimes, but you've got to finish it off by putting a body on them."

The Tar Heels didn't have to put a body on the Lady Monarchs early in the first half at least.

The teams entered a 3-point shootout that quickly went UNC's way. Swingman Leah Sharp and Barksdale set their marks from long range and scored 19 of the Tar Heels' first 21 points.

But the outside shot got taken away in the second half. Sharp, who scored 13 points, didn't attempt one in the second half.

"They picked up their intensity," said UNC point guard Coretta Brown, who finished with 14 points. "They put a lot of pressure on the ball, and they did a good job."

Meanwhile Lady Monarch guard Sharron Francis exploded to start the second half.

Francis, 0-for-2 in the first half, rattled off 13 points in the first 8:11 of the second stanza to help catapult ODU to a comfortable lead. Leading scorer Hamchetou Maiga, who continually found holes in UNC's trapping defense, chipped in a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds for the game.

"We mentally let some things that happened out there bother us," Hatchell said. "Instead of turning those things into positives, we let them wear on us a little more and break us down more."

Dome of Doom?

The Tar Heels shot 37 percent from the field in their first game at the Smith Center since a damaged Carmichael floor caused them to play there in 1998.

When asked if there's a difference playing in the Smith Center, Barksdale said, "None whatsoever. We did all the same things. I guess pretty much we had to adjust to the depth, but that's about it."

The Tar Heels are 10-7 in the dome but claim a 271-78 mark in Carmichael.

"You know, it might have been a little different in Carmichael," Hatchell said. "We're so comfortable there, but yet we've got to learn to play. We've already been on the road this year, and we've got a lot to play somewhere besides Carmichael."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.