UNC women clean up in ?nal game

North Carolina’s 88-66 win against North Carolina Central went so well that even assistant coach Andrew Calder was seen smiling.

Calder, the usually irascible sidekick to head coach Sylvia Hatchell, would probably not admit it, but he was caught enjoying a laugh with a referee with about 40 seconds left in the game.

With UNC in the midst of playing their most well-rounded game in weeks, it is hard to hold it against him.

The Tar Heels (19-11) improved drastically in their halfcourt offense, shooting 49 percent for the game.

The key was Chay Shegog getting multiple touches in the high post where she could turn and either shoot or spot open cutters.

“It’s much easier (to get in rhythm),” Shegog said. “Especially with this new offense, I don’t have to score and I know where all my teammates are.”

Shegog, who battled a head cold during the game, scored an efficient 17 points in 26 minutes on 8-12 shooting.

During one stretch, Shegog scored nine straight Tar Heel points to help keep pace with the Eagles.

“She did a nice job in there, and we had several other people that we were running in there with the cuts,” Hatchell said.

The game could not have come at a better time for the Tar Heels, as they were disappointingly bounced in the first round of the ACC Tournament by Maryland last Thursday.

“Oh, yes (we practiced during the ACC Tournament),” Hatchell said. “We came home and practiced during the time we would have been playing.”

Hatchell scheduled the game as a tuneup to keep her team in rhythm during the two-week layoff between ACCs and NCAAs.

“Last year we had that real close game with North Dakota,” Hatchell said. “This is a hard game here, but it’s good to go ahead and get that out of the way before playing in the tournament.”

The Tar Heels had five players in double digits due to the easy shots they were able to manufacture in the halfcourt.

Italee Lucas notched 10 points on 11 shots — a frustrating statistic for UNC’s coaches.

“She’s had practices where she was unbelievable shooting the ball,” Hatchell said. “We just need her to let the game come to her.”

From the players’ standpoint, if UNC is going to make a run in the NCAA Tournament, they will need consistent production from both Lucas and junior Cetera DeGraffenreid.

“Like coach says, she wants us to be the ones to step up and lead the team,” DeGraffenreid said. “They’re only going to go as far as we’re going to go.”

Laura Broomfield led the way on the boards, pulling down 14 rebounds to go along with 12 points, for her fifth double-double of the season.

Waltiea Rolle sat out the game, recovering from a concussion she sustained in practice a week ago.

The injury left the Tar Heels to trot out their 15th distinct starting lineup of the season.

“Yesterday I was thinking, ‘OK, this is our 30th game, and I still don’t know who our starters are,’” Hatchell said.



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.