Tar Heels band together to make up for McDaniel's absence

In the wake of North Carolina women’s basketball forward Xylina McDaniel’s injury, sophomore guard Jessica Washington knew that her teammates would have to elevate their games to fill the void of the All-American forward.

But on Tuesday, she took matters into her own hands.

Washington led the team with 16 points, tied for her career high, as No. 9 UNC cruised to a 71-56 win over Albany (7-6) after two weeks away from Carmichael Arena.

With McDaniel — the team’s third-leading scorer — out indefinitely, the Tar Heels (12-1) looked to the rest of the team to carry the scoring load.

“Just playing as a team and moving the ball around will get us open shots,” said Washington, after leading the second-unit to 26 bench points. “That’s what I’m focusing on.”

And when Washington was presented with open shots, the results were undoubted.

The fearless shooter went 6-for-12 from the field, sinking both of her free throws and knocking down two of the team’s nine 3-pointers.

“I was just trying to focus on getting the little things down and playing my role within the team,” said Washington, who also grabbed four offensive rebounds and dished out two assists. “My shot just came with it.”

With senior starter Latifah Coleman battling a foot injury, Washington was even forced to assume point guard duties.

“Jessica’s a very versatile player. She can play the 1 or 2, shoot the ball, nice passer and everything,” said Coach Sylvia Hatchell, who relied on her sophomore combo guard for a season-high 26 minutes. “That was good for Jess to have a game like that tonight.”

In McDaniel’s absence, Hatchell called upon 5-foot-10 Danielle Butts to start in her four-guard lineup.

But with the underwhelming size difference of the Great Danes’ squad, the Tar Heels’ smaller stature didn’t seem to make a difference.

“She is so athletic,” said Hatchell of her high-flying senior, who finished the game with a team-high 10 boards in 25 minutes of action. “She can go rebound, she’s hard to guard, (and) she’s increased her range in her shooting.”

Despite Butts’ strong performance, sophomore forward Stephanie Mavunga said it was a major adjustment playing without her usual frontcourt companion.

“It’s weird not playing with (McDaniel),” said Mavunga, who finished with 14 points and nine rebounds. “We call each other our POCs – it stands for Partner On Court. I’m so used to having her out there, so it was really weird at first.”

UNC will be forced to fight through its injury woes in preparation for ACC competition, which starts Sunday at home against N.C. State after one final non-conference game Friday.

“Our kids are a little banged up now, we have several kids in the locker room that have aches and pains,” Hatchell said. “We need to heal up a little bit before we go into conference play. These guys continue to play well.

“That’s what I like about our team: our depth and balance.”