Washington's career high helps UNC women's basketball bounce back

Motivated by its heartbreaking loss to then No. 7 Notre Dame on Thursday, the North Carolina women’s basketball team was desperate for a statement win against a hapless ACC foe Sunday.

But with leading scorer guard Allisha Gray battling an injury and sophomore forward Stephanie Mavunga in foul trouble, the No. 12 Tar Heels relied on other sources of production to carry the team.

Once again, no one was better suited than breakout stud Jessica Washington.

After tying her career-high twice in the past six games, Washington broke the mark with a game-high 20 points, leading UNC to a 78-56 victory over Clemson (9-10, 1-5 ACC), their 24th win over the Tigers in their last 26 meetings.

Following a loss, the Tar Heels (16-3, 3-2 ACC) are outscoring their opponents in the next game by an average of 22.

“I really just think that we all hate to lose,” said Washington, whose most recent scoring outburst came after the loss at Pittsburgh. “It doesn’t matter who it is — we didn’t win last game, so the next game we’ve got to get the job done.”

And on Sunday, Washington executed her job to perfection.

The sophomore guard hit two straight 3-pointers early to cap off a 22-3 run, and by halftime Washington already had 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting.

“My focus whenever I come in the game is to bring energy,” said Washington, who has led the team in first-half scoring for three straight games. “It just happens that the past few games whenever I come in and bring some energy, I get rebounds or open threes.”

The multifaceted playmaker — who finished with four rebounds and four 3-pointers — was forced to play three positions in her 29 minutes on the court to offset the team’s injuries.

But she is willing to embrace the challenge of being the team’s third option – within the confines of what’s asked of her.

“I don’t really focus on how many points I have,” Washington said. “I put in a lot of practice and hours outside of the games and practice, so I just know that work will pay off.”

If Washington isn’t aware of her scoring impact, her teammates certainly are.

“That’s what we’re looking for Jess to do, to score when she gets into the game,” said freshman guard Jamie Cherry.

For Coach Sylvia Hatchell, the key to the victory was energy on defense, provided primarily from strong bench play spearheaded by Washington.

“We probably communicated and talked better today than we have since when Xylina (McDaniel) went out,” Hatchell said.

The result was a stifling defensive performance, with Clemson shooting just above 30 percent from the field.

“In practice, Coach Hatchell is telling us to be the loudest team in America,” Washington said. “Being loud and talking on defense and all that, it really just brings up our energy level.”

And nobody is more capable of doing just that than Washington.

sports@dailytarheel.com