With just less than five minutes left in the first half, it appeared that North Carolina’s matchup with visiting Maryland would be a low-scoring affair.
The Tar Heels only managed to score 15 points in 15 minutes, but moments later, Candace Wood kicked up her contribution in UNC’s 78-72 overtime loss.
As the offensive play was forming, freshman point guard Brittany Rountree passed the ball to Wood on the wing. The junior guard caught the ball and drained the first and only 3-pointer of the half.
Wood’s triple kicked off a flurry of scoring from both teams to close out the half, as UNC doubled its score in the final five minutes to cut the Maryland advantage to six going into halftime. Wood contributed seven of the 15 points.
“Candace cutting and everybody else making plays — that really helped us going into halftime because we had the momentum,” senior center Chay Shegog said.
Her impact did not stop after halftime, and she added six more points to the board, including a 3-pointer with 10 minutes remaining to tie the score at 53.
She finished the game shooting three of seven from beyond the arc and posted a career-high 15 points.
Though Wood set new highs, there were still elements lacking in her performance.
“Candace missed some layups tonight that she doesn’t usually miss, like three or four really easy shots,” UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “She doesn’t usually miss those. I was really surprised with that.”
