Tar Heel women's basketball topple Carson-Newman in exhibition

The last time Carson-Newman played North Carolina, Italee Lucas was still dropping threes from outside the arc, and fellow senior Jessica Breland was still racking up rebounds on the inside.

On Wednesday night the Tar Heels beat Carson-Newman 91-43, but those names were nowhere to be found in the Tar Heel box score.

A year after last season’s exhibition matchup — and 116-27 win — against the Eagles, injuries and graduation have wiped the slate clean for the UNC women’s basketball team.

But Wednesday night’s exhibition game offered the team the chance to let its play do the talking.

And while the stat sheets were bereft of last season’s household names, a strong second-half effort ensured that it wouldn’t be lacking a Tar Heel “W” as well.

“I’m really glad we picked it up in the second half,” said center Chay Shegog. “I’m really proud of my team for doing that.”

Shegog was a large reason for the team’s success, keeping the No. 20 Tar Heels afloat in the first half by scoring nearly half of the team’s 30 points.

The 6-foot-5 senior is one of three Tar Heel starters who is at least six-feet-tall, giving the team a significant size advantage. Carson-Newman, on the other hand, only featured one starter who cracked that mark, with the six-foot Shannon Depew playing forward.

And the Eagles certainly leaned on Depew heavily.

The sophomore sank three shots from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes to tally 13 first-half points of her own, and as whole, the team proved more formidable than it did a year ago, trailing UNC by only four points at halftime.

“They were poised. They played well. They were balanced,” said UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell, a Carson-Newman aluma. “(Depew) was shooting really well. When we came out on her, she’d shot fake and go around us. I felt they did a really good job.”

Other than Shegog and Depew, neither team could gather much steam offensively in the first half.

Hatchell gave a few of the team’s highly lauded freshman significant minutes on the court, with ACC Newcomer watch list member Brittany Rountree playing for 14 of the first 20 minutes.

But the group only managed a combined two first-half field goals, and as a group, the team shot for a paltry 28.2 percent in the first half.

“As we move along, (the freshmen are) going to be fun,” Hatchell said. “But there’s going to be times when I’ll probably pull my hair out.”

In the second half, the team entered with a renewed intensity, opening the period with a 13-0 run.

Redshirt freshman Shannon Smith and true freshman Danielle Butts each contributed heavily in the second period, scoring 10 and seven points respectively.

But ultimately, it was Shegog who carried much of the load for UNC on Wednesday night.

The center finished the night with 24 points and will likely be a key player for the Tar Heels in the absence of Waltiea Rolle — the 6-foot-6 center who gave birth to a baby girl on Tuesday.

“All I can do is just play my game and try to fill her shoes — which are big shoes to fill,” Shegog said.

For the Tar Heels, that pair of shoes is one of many.

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.