Game 2 in Hawaii: Tar Heels Rout the Prairie View A&M Panthers

Entering today I think the most I hoped for was a fast start for the team.  It's like the only thing I hadn't seen yet.  But I also know this is a three day/three game weekend and they have to be managed a certain way.  Given the Tar Heels faced the 5th ranked team in the nation yesterday, I knew they had expended a lot of energy.  Every year though our conference tournament means games on back to back days and this coaching staff knows how to manage.  Final: North Carolina 85, Prairie View A&M 45.

So this game had lots of substitutions and every healthy player saw the floor for at least 11 minutes and UNC had a very balanced attack against the Panthers.  Every player grabbed at least 3 rebounds and despite the amount of substitutions, North Carolina only turned the ball over 11 times in the game.

 

Jamie Cherry: 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal (photo from www.goheels.com)

 

Always nice to have someone come off the bench and make an impact.  Jamie had the lion's share of the minutes, and was great giving the starters some rest.  She brings a lot of energy off the bench and lead the team in scoring today.



 

Danielle Butts: 13 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal (photo from www.goheels.com)

 

Danielle hit 5 of 6 shots today and turned defense into offense as 5 of her 7 rebounds were defensive ones.  She came off the bench for 22 minutes in the game.

 

Allisha Gray: 13 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals (photo from www.goheels.com)

 

Everyone packed a lot of productivity in their minutes today and Allisha was no different.  She played the most of the 5 starters (20 minutes) and along with Danielle Butts lead the team in rebounding.  They both stepped up big in that department as both Stephanie Mavunga and Xylina McDaniel were rested today playing 17 and 11 minutes respectively.  Still the dynamic duo made their presence felt in the game.  We got pretty much a complete stat sheet for both players

 



 

 

Xylina McDaniel: 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block (photo from www.goheels.com)

 

 

Stephanie Mavunga: 5 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 blocks (photo from www.goheels.com)

 

 

Jessica Washington: 6 points, 4 rebounds (photo from www.goheels.com)

 

Jessica appeared to be dealing with some soreness today, likely a carry over from yesterday.  Still thought a lot of productivity in 13 minutes on the court.  I continue to love how she is not afraid to get in there and rebound the basketball.

 

 

N'dea Bryant: 5 points, 1 rebound, 3 steals (photo from www.goheels.com)

 

I was so happy to see N'dea get a lot of minutes today.  She's so athletic and has a lot of length.  She appears to have the potential to be a real matchup problem, particularly on the defensive end.  Three takeaways today, one of them for a fast break lay-up so she was using that quickness to her advantage in this game.

 

 

Latifah Coleman: 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist (photo from www.goheels.com)

 

Coleman continued her hot shooting today, making 3 of the 4 shots she took from the field.  She's another guard who gets in there to rebound the basketball for UNC.  UNC's other starter, Brittany Rountree also did her share rebounding the basketball and contributed in today's game.

 

 

Brittany Rountree: 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal (photo from www.goheels.com)

 









It was rough out there.

 

In what appeared to be a really physical game, our friends in the black and white shirts made their presence felt as well.  There were nearly 50 fouls called in the game and over 60 free throws taken.  For Prairie View A&M, guard Jeanette Jackson took 22 of their free-throws.  It's where she got 16 of her game leading 24 points.  North Carolina was 19 of 30 from the line as a team.  Even though our players saw reduced minutes we had a few players with 3 or 4 fouls. 

 

What to take away from this win?

 

As a fan, I'm glad there was no let down after the big win against Stanford.  It was good to see the team get off to a fast start.  They scored the first 10 points of the game, forced an early shot clock violation and dominated the game throughout even though everyone played.  You hope as a fan that the players who come off the bench gained some confidence that will benefit them personally and North Carolina as a team as we move forward.  In particular, Megan Buckland sank her first 3 pointer of the year today.  YAY! Megan!

 

For the team, they have the task of facing the host team in Sunday's game.  So even though this is considered a holiday tournament, this will be a true road game for the Tar Heels.  Hawaii played Stanford today and nearly 2600 people came out and despite Stanford shooting 57% in the game, the Rainbow Wahine fought hard and had 4 players in double figures. I expect a good crowd to show up to cheer them on in their second chance to take down a ranked team. 

 

The Tar Heels should be proud of what they have accomplished thus far; but I know they aren't satisfied.  These holiday tournaments can be tough on teams what with playing 3 games back to back so early in the year.  Last year, UNC was 2-1 over the Thanksgiving Holiday in the Cancun Challenge; and this year the tropical sites haven't been kind to some familiar teams.  North Carolina State had a tough time in the Bahamas and Maryland lost a game in a tournament in Puerto Rico.  I'm sure our team knows that coming out 3-0 would be a great accomplishment.  I expect they will continue to be all business.  Thankfully this will not be their first road game of the season.

 

There are quite a few big games tomorrow and several ranked teams will be in action.  As for us, we'll be winding up our time with family and heading back home to prepare to return to our routine.  Safe travels to all and Go Heels!