Connecticut’s women’s basketball team immediately took advantage of a first-play North Carolina turnover in Monday’s women’s basketball game in Carmichael Arena.
The Tar Heel mistake was quickly converted into an 8-0 run for the No. 2 Huskies, who controlled possession and circled the ball around No. 10 North Carolina defenders with ease.
“The transition buckets first half just killed us,” UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “We were not taking good shots, and they were getting the outlet and throwing it to half court. It was a race to the basket, and I was trying to get some of our kids to charges and everything like that.”
Bounce pass after bounce pass found the Huskies underneath the basket, as easy layups continued to put up points for UConn. Connecticut continued moving the ball down the court past a slower Tar Heel squad en route to an 83-57 victory.
The Tar Heels’ defensive problems continued to shine through after intermission. A 12-0 run to start the second half mirrored UNC’s slow start to the game.
“We caught them on their heels a little bit,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. “We put a lot of emphasis on how we start a game, how we start a second half, how we come out of time outs. I looked up at the scoreboard at one point five minutes or three minutes into the second half, and I was surprised myself.”
Although big stops were made by Tar Heel defenders — including a key block from Laura Broomfield that kept the Huskies from reaching 50 points in the first half — UConn responded with stiff defense of its own.
Despite out-blocking Connecticut 5-3 and earning just one less than the Huskies’ nine steals, the Tar Heels were unable to defend their opponent’s stacked offense and chip away at UConn’s lead.
“I guess zone’s probably the best thing to play them, but we’re not really a zone team,” Hatchell said.
