Notes: UNC women take on UT Martin

The No. 4-seed North Carolina Tar Heels will play the No. 13-seed University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawks Sunday at 3:05 p.m. at Carmichael Arena. The game will also be broadcasted live on ESPN.

• The Skyhawks (24-7) are led by senior guard Heather Butler. Butler is a beast. 
  • Butler, a 5-foot-5 guard who wears No. 11, is averaging 23.7 points per game.
  • Butler has scored the second-most points of any active player in the NCAA. She is No. 18 on the NCAA women’s all-time scoring list with 2,846 points.
  • Butler also has the most 3-pointers of any active player and is tied for fourth place on the NCAA career 3-pointer field goal mark.
  • Butler has scored in double figures for every game of her career. Her record of 128 games in a row is the leading record for active NCAA players and is No. 5 all time.
  • Butler has been on the Ohio Valley Conference first team all four years of her career and was named the OVC player of the year this season.
• Butler is joined by senior guard Jasmine Newsome, who averages 19.4 points per game. 
  • Newsome was named this season's OVC Defensive Player of the Year.
  • Together, the two have made history. UT Martin is the only team in NCAA history to have two players rank first and second in their respective conference's scoring history. 
    • Butler ranks first, and Newsome is second with 2,558 points.
• The Skyhawks score the third-most points per game (84.6) of all NCAA teams, led only by Oregon and Notre Dame. 
• Still, UNC guard Diamond DeShields — who was named the National Freshman of the Year — isn't shaken. "They’ve put up some pretty big numbers," DeShields said. "But they haven’t gone against our defense yet."
• The Skyhawks are a noticeably smaller team as well. UT Martin has just two players six-feet tall or taller, while North Carolina has nine such players. UNC's starting lineup stands at an average of 6-foot-1, while the Skyhawks starting five average 5-foot-9. UT Martin's coach Kevin McMillan is slightly shaken by that fact.
• "This is not a good matchup," McMillan said. "Because Carolina and us play the same way. They average 80-plus points a game. They’re doing it with 6-foot-2, 6-foot-3 All-Americans and we’re doing it with converted cheerleaders, I guess, and 5-foot-8s and 5-foot-9s. We’re going to walk out and try to outscore North Carolina?" McMillan shuddered. "And on their home floor? That’s probably not very wise." 
• McMillan also noted a large difference between the men's and women's NCAA Tournament, saying that a difference in scholarships and home-courts don't allow upsets in the women's tournament as often as in the men's.
  • "It would be exciting to see that," McMillan said. "You would love to see those same upsets in the women’s game that you see in the men’s game. There just aren’t that many upsets. There’s been a few ... and we just hope we’re one of those few."
• Despite UNC's advantages via size and home court, freshman center Stephanie Mavunga is still wary.
  • "You can’t take any team lightly," Mavunga said. "I always believe in a quote: Anybody can be or beat anybody on any given night. And so it’s one game at a time. They have a really good record. Clearly they’ve been able to get to the tournament. And when it comes to tournament play, anybody can show up."