The North Carolina women’s basketball team easily handled Alabama A&M by a score of 80-35 behind strong performances from two backcourt standouts: sophomore guard Stephanie Watts and redshirt sophomore guard Paris Kea.
The Tar Heels (2-0) caught fire against the Lady Bulldogs (0-3) early, scoring 11 points in the first two minutes — with six coming from Watts or Kea. The scoring eventually slowed a bit, as the Tar Heels made only one of their last 10 field goals to end the quarter.
Shooting struggles continued for UNC in the second quarter, but the defensive effort remained strong, forcing 21 of Alabama A&M's eventual 35 turnovers in the first half. Watts chipped in a team-high 11 points in the game's first 20 minutes.
“I thought the first half we were doing a lot of good things defensively,” Head Coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “We were getting after it. Our traps were good. We’ve really been working a lot on our rotations and our traps and intercepting and different things like that. I thought we did a pretty good job with that today.”
The second half proved to be much more profitable for the Tar Heels on the scoreboard, especially for Watts. Following a strong first half, Watts upped her performance with an additional 17 points in the second to bring her total to 28 — two points away from her career high.
She also grabbed 11 rebounds, recording her first double-double of the season.
“Stephanie caught on fire over there,” Hatchell said.
Although Hatchell could have been referring to any part of Watts’ game, she was singling out the sophomore's six 3-pointers in the game — five of them coming in the second half.
“Personally, I’m looking for threes,” Watts said. “First half, we just weren’t knocking them down like we normally do.”
