UNC withstands Wake Forest's Hamby, Douglas

GREENSBORO — North Carolina knew they were coming. They had been, should we say, lights-out for the season’s first 30 games.

One was the conference’s leading scorer. The other was four spots behind her.

One, the forward, stands 6-foot-3. The other, the guard, is 5-foot-5.

And they nearly directed their team to a season-extending upset.

In No. 6 seed UNC’s chippy, blackout-lengthened 69-65 win against 11th-seeded Wake Forest on Thursday night in the second round of the ACC tournament here, WFU’s Dearica Hamby and Chelsea Douglas scored 75 percent of the Demon Deacons’ points and almost ended the Tar Heels’ tournament.

UNC

The disparate duo, equal parts dominate and spirited, scored at will in the first half. They, Calder would say, attacked the Tar Heels (23-8, 10-6 ACC) when they made a mistake.

Douglas, a fiery senior, sliced through and around UNC’s defense for several floaters and deep 3-pointers. She got what she wanted when she wanted it. By halftime she had 13 points.

If Douglas was lethal, then Hamby was something worse. The junior scored 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting in the opening half, asserting her sizeable will in the paint and around the basket and drawing double-teams and hopeless looks from UNC.

The Douglas-to-Hamby connection was a common one, and it was clear that if WFU (15-16, 5-11) were to win, it would be on the proverbial shoulders of this duo.

“I could stand up here all day and talk about each individual player, starting with these two right beside me,” Demon Deacons head coach Jen Hoover said as Hamby and Douglas sat next to her in the post-game press conference.

Wake Forest led 39-27. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

“I told them in the locker room (after the game) I wasn’t ready for the speech,” Hoover said. “I had a victory speech prepared, ready to go.”

Then the second half began.

The Tar Heels were a different team, and they denied, as much as possible, the scoring opportunities Hamby and Douglas had in the first half.

“In the second half our team picked up the intensity defensively,” Calder said. “We mixed up a couple of traps in there with our man-to-man defense.”

UNC guard Latifah Coleman shadowed Douglas, making her work to do everything from run a play to dribble the ball up the court. Douglas shot 2-for-8 and never looked comfortable.

North Carolina harassed Hamby, fronting her in the post and forcing tough entry passes to the forward.

“Xylina McDaniel on Hamby in the second half,” Calder said, “did a good job of denying her the basketball.”

It helped that Hamby was playing with three fouls, a burden that forced her to play differently.

“Usually I start the ?rst half less aggressive, and (in the) second half I usually pick it up when I don’t have any fouls,” Hamby said. “But (playing with three fouls) de?nitely changed the way I played and rebound and be more aggressive and go for steals.”

Hamby and Douglas came, and UNC weathered it. Barely.

sports@dailytarheel.com