The North Carolina women’s basketball team (16-6, 7-4 ACC) topped Clemson (7-15, 3-8 ACC) in dominant fashion on Sunday, 86-72, led in large part by offensive contributions from senior guard Taylor Koenen and junior forward Janelle Bailey.
What happened?
North Carolina came out of the gates hot, taking a 15-4 lead into the first media timeout with four starters working their way into the scoring column in the first five minutes of play.
The Tar Heels dominance would continue for the remainder of the opening period, spreading their lead out to 27-10 off of 54 percent shooting from the field led in large part by junior forward Janelle Bailey and senior guard Koenen.
North Carolina came out of the break continuing to function at a high level on both ends of the court, holding Clemson to 11-32 shooting from the field while maintaining a 20-37 spread of their own.
Even scoring distribution was a trend for UNC in the first half and throughout the game, with six of eight Tar Heels who played in the first half finding their way into the scoring column on their way to a 47-27 halftime lead.
North Carolina came out of the locker room with the same intensity it had displayed in the first half, maintaining a 20 point lead through the mid way point of the third quarter. Redshirt senior guard Madinah Muhammad was an impressive force during this initial run, scoring five points in the early going for the Tar Heels.
As the third quarter went on, North Carolina would maintain a tight grip on the game, going into the break up 65-46 despite slowing down to 36 percent shooting from the field.
Clemson came into the final quarter fighting for a comeback. Exchanging offensive blows with UNC offensively, the Tar Heels never took their foot off the gas pedal on the way to a point quarter that saw North Carolina push through to an 86-72 victory.
