"Box out," Brown said with a laugh. "Box out and get the rebound."
When the shot clanked off the back iron, Brown collected the loose ball and was fouled.
With a three-point lead, she went to the free throw line and coolly sank two free throws to give the Tar Heels a five-point lead, and they held on to win 77-74 against the Athletes.
Although Brown said all she was thinking was "box out," UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said that was one of many things the Tar Heels did poorly Wednesday.
"I didn't think we played like a team," Hatchell said. "It's early; we made a lot of mistakes. Even though we outrebounded them (58-40), we just didn't box out good."
The Tar Heels did, however, get solid performances from guards Nikita Bell (18 points, seven rebounds) and Jessica Sell (eight points, five assists and no turnovers).
"I thought Jessica Sell played well. Actually, I thought she was the only player that really played well," Hatchell said.
Led by two Bell buckets, UNC jumped out to an 11-2 lead three minutes into the first half. The two teams traded points for the next five minutes.
But when UNC freshman guard La'Tangela Atkinson blocked an Athlete shot, collected the loose ball, wrapped a dribble behind her back at half court, then spun through two defenders to lay the ball in to give the Tar Heels a 23-15 lead, it appeared they were gathering momentum.