The 14th-seeded North Carolina women’s basketball team‘s season likely ended on Thursday night in Conway, S.C. The Tar Heels fell to sixth-seeded Syracuse, 83-64, in the second round of the ACC Tournament.
What happened?
For the second game in as many days, junior guard Jamie Cherry started off with a 14-point first quarter. Over the course of the first period Cherry and Syracuse’s Alexis Peterson, the 2016-17 ACC Women’s Player of the Year, went back and forth, trading 3-pointers and layups with abandon. Peterson scored 12 in the quarter as Syracuse (21-9, 11-5 ACC) built a seven-point lead over UNC (15-16, 3-13 ACC).
Syracuse made use of its size advantage inside from the opening whistle. In the first half, the Orange collected 13 offensive rebounds and scored 17 second-chance points. Syracuse collected half of its misses and outrebounded UNC 26-15 in the half. At halftime, North Carolina trailed 45-34.
Despite opening the third quarter a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, UNC found itself down 17 halfway through the period. The Orange used a full-court press to force the Tar Heels into nine turnovers in the quarter.
Heading into the fourth, UNC trailed 78-56. Despite winning the fourth quarter, North Carolina couldn’t close the gap.
Who stood out?
In the battle between Jamie Cherry and Alexis Peterson, Peterson would eventually come out on top. Cherry scored only 10 points after her 14-point first-quarter explosion while Peterson poured in 29 over the course of the game. Peterson went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc and 5-for-9 from the free-throw line.
