After falling victim to a brutal second quarter earlier this week in a road loss to Duke, scoring droughts continued to hamper the North Carolina women’s basketball team (12-6, 1-4 ACC) in a 68-48 loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday.
What happened?
Through much of the first quarter, the Tar Heels kept up with the Panthers — who were hot from the 3-point line — and found themselves well within reach of a manageable game down by just six points at the end of the first quarter. But the end of the first quarter would set a dangerous precedent for the rest of the game.
After Stephanie Watts knocked down two free throws with 1:13 seconds left, the Tar Heels didn't score for the remainder of the quarter.
The second quarter would not be any more forgiving. The scoring drought continued, as the team managed to only score six points through the rest of the half.
By that point, the team had committed 11 turnovers, shot just 22 percent from the field and found themselves down 35-16 at the break. The quarter also marked its largest scoring drought of the game, spanning five minutes.
The second quarter woes would prove to be too much to overcome in the second half. Although Jamie Cherry and company came out hot in the third quarter, narrowing the deficit down to 12 points, they could not overcome their second quarter performance.
Who stood out?
Cherry was the only Tar Heel to score double digits in the game, leading the stat sheet with 13 points and seven rebounds. When the Tar Heels came out after the half, the lead was cut down largely because she took control and scored a number of baskets, running the floor all the way from the defensive rebound to the hoop.
