UNC women's basketball gets unconventional win vs. UVa.

Zero points.

That’s what freshman Diamond DeShield’s stat sheet showed after half of Thursday night’s 80-74 victory against Virginia.

Coming off of a 38 point performance in her last game against N.C. State, DeShields took a shot to the face minutes into the first half and went to the bench.

UNC faced replacing its best player whose contributions went beyond the stat sheet.

“Diamond playing aggressive always helps us and helps us get our momentum going,” sophomore N’Dea Bryant said. “She gets us hype and takes the atmosphere to a new level.”

Averaging 3.8 points a game, Bryant scored 10, eight of which came in the first half. While DeShields shuttled back and forth between the bench and court, Bryant helped UNC keep pace with the Cavaliers.

At halftime, UNC led 34-32. Then the rest of the team decided to take up the challenge.

The Tar Heels opened the half with a 12-4 run. UNC began coming down with more rebounds, which had been a major problem in the first half. And DeShields came alive.

“Today we showed how much depth we really have as a team,” freshman Stephanie Mavunga said. “Regardless of whether people are coming off the bench or starting, we can count on anyone to make an impact in any given game.”

Mavunga, who didn’t start because she had a technical foul in UNC’s last game, scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds for a double-double.

Freshman Allisha Gray led the team with 18 points, DeShields finished with 13 points and junior Latifah Coleman recorded 11. Five Tar Heels scored in double digits.

Sophomore starter Xylina McDaniel was suspended before the game.

“People who normally don’t play together were out at the same time, and it just happened to work,” Mavunga said.

A key factor in the Tar Heel win was the swing in rebounding from the first half to the second. UNC was out-rebounded 25-13 in the first half, but in the second went 26-18. Mavunga said interim coach Andrew Calder spoke to them about focusing on their fundamentals in the second half, as they had no excuse for being pushed around in the first half. As long as they focused on passing and rebounding, he told them they could play better.

“We all work hard, we all put in the extra work,” Mavunga said. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be successful.”

sports@dailytarheel.com