At about 6 p.m. Wednesday night, North Carolina students received an email with notice that the men’s basketball team’s game against Duke would be postponed.
But on Thursday night, less than 24 hours after a snowstorm hit the Triangle area and UNC’s campus, splotches of highlighter pink and Carolina blue accented the student section behind the North Carolina women’s basketball team’s bench at Carmichael Arena.
Just three days after UNC upset No. 3 Duke 89-78 at Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday, students and fans trekked through the slush and ice to welcome back the squad.
And after 40 minutes of play, they sang the alma matter along with the Tar Heels, as both groups sported pink for breast cancer awareness in honor of late N.C. State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow, to celebrate UNC’s 86-50 win against Pittsburgh on the team’s annual Play4Kay night.
“Thank you for the crowd. Thank you students. Thank you fans. Thank you pep band,” associate head coach Andrew Calder said. “How can I forget that? Thank you for being here tonight because that was special — that was super special.”
To provide an encore to a 51-percent shooting night in Durham Monday , the Tar Heels employed the team’s season-long motto “Heel Fast,” taking command immediately.
After freshman center Stephanie Mavunga won the opening tip, the basketball landed into the hands of freshman guard Allisha Gray, who dropped it through the net.
Only seven seconds had ticked off the clock and UNC found itself with a 2-0 lead that it would not relinquish for the remaining 33:53.
As a team, the Tar Heels shot 49 percent from the field while connecting on 8-20 shots from deep.
