The North Carolina women's basketball team's date with Coastal Carolina ended with the heartbroken Chanticleers going home with a 72-54 loss and without a goodnight kiss.
The game looked like CCU wouldn't have much of a chance at the start. The Chanticleers turned the ball over four times in their first five possessions of the contest in the face of UNC's swarming defense. CCU coughed up the ball 12 times in the first half.
"In the first we half, we got out after it," UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "We trapped the ball good. We contested shots."
The Tar Heels (14-10) held the Chanticleers (11-12), who didn't reach double figures until less than seven minutes remained in the first half, to 22.6 percent shooting from the field in the half.
While CCU was giving UNC a bouquet of bricks and air balls, North Carolina hit 46.9 percent of its attempts, including its first four of the night, en route to a 42-18 break at intermission.
"The first half I was not pleased," CCU coach Alan LeForce said. "I felt like we were a little intimidated. We did things that we don't normally do. We threw the ball away. We took quick shots. We just played unsure of ourselves."
In the second half, it was the Tar Heels who didn't play the way they normally do.
UNC committed 15 turnovers in the second stanza while CCU regained its composure and had just six blemishes.
"Then the second half, that might be our worst half of the season," Hatchell said.