Maria Gakdeng said her goal in the offseason was to get stronger, to be more physical.
The senior forward wanted to finish through contact instead of shying away from it. On Thursday, as a shorthanded UNC team faced Syracuse without graduate guard Alyssa Ustby, Gakdeng fulfilled her pre-season promises.
Seconds after entering the game in the second quarter, Gakdeng took an entry pass in the low post after boxing out 6-foot-4 Syracuse center Izabel Varejão. Gakdeng took a power dribble directly into Varejão, turning over her left shoulder and fighting through contact to convert the first of many well-earned layups she’d score that night.
No. 9 UNC defeated Syracuse, 68-58, on Thursday night at JMA Wireless Dome behind Gakdeng's game-high 21 points and season-best 14 rebounds. It's the first time the Tar Heels have won on the Orange's home court since 2000.
But UNC was in trouble early. Missing Ustby and her rebounding, UNC was neck-and-neck with the Orange for most of the first half. So, Gakdeng went to work.
The forward entered at the 7:27 mark of the second quarter with North Carolina only up one on a bottom-tier ACC squad. She considered the things she would have to do to fill two roles. As the lone center on the court against a Syracuse team in the top 100 in rebounding, Gakdeng needed to find her groove down low.
"[I had] to make up for the rebounding that we lose and rim running that we lose,” Gakdeng said. “So, making sure I’m running the floor, getting out, rebounding, going to the glass hard was really important for this game.”
And she did just that.
Gakdeng went on a tear in the second quarter, dominating Syracuse down low with crafty layups and tip-ins while grabbing rebounds.
