A game that started out encouragingly for the North Carolina women's basketball team didn't end that way, as the Tar Heels fell to Florida State, 90-77, inside Carmichael Arena on Thursday.
Both teams came out looking to run and UNC (11-4, 0-2 ACC) cut the lead to one before Leticia Romero hit a tough 3-pointer for the No. 6 Seminoles (14-2, 2-1 ACC) to make it 19-15 late in the first quarter. That was the closest UNC would get the rest of the game, as it was all Seminoles from that point on.
The Tar Heels went into halftime down just 10 points, but Florida State started the second half strong — scoring the first eight points and putting the Tar Heels in an insurmountable hole.
Sophomore Stephanie Watts finished with a team-high 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, as four Tar Heels finished in double digits. Before Monday, UNC was 11-0 when three or more players broke the 10-point mark. But the size of No. 18 Virginia Tech and No. 6 Florida State proved too much for North Carolina in its ACC-opening losses.
“You have to give Florida State credit, because while they are big, they are also mobile," Watts said. "They were getting up and down the court and we were able to fast break some. But on the plus side for them, they are big and they move pretty well, so we were unable to fast break completely.”
Florida State’s size led to the Tar Heels being outrebounded 37-30 on the night, including 16-8 on the offensive glass.
“We don’t have that much size, and the other ones are very young," head coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "We gave up way too many second chance points and points in the paint. We’re just going to keep working and getting better and better.”
Sophomore Destinee Walker was a bright spot for North Carolina, finishing with 16 points after scoring 22 on Monday. After one double-digit scoring output in her first five games, the guard has averaged 19 points over her past five games, including three 20-point performances.
“For me, it’s really like a mental thing," she said. "I started off the season slow, so I started putting up more shots and trying to get my mind right. Coach has been talking to me a lot and getting me to play hard.”
