The children and I set out after a great time at church and after I parked in the lot on 54 as usual, we got down to Carmichael just after the opening tip. Whew! Really looking forward to some 3:00 starts coming up on Sundays once the ACC season starts. Since we were hurried, I was glad there were plenty of choices at the concession stand for lunch.
The game was pretty typical of the first game after final exams. There were high points like seeing Stephanie Mavunga rule the paint and that fast break where Danielle Butts caught a pass in stride and made the lay-up without even putting the ball on the floor. There were not so high points in the number of turnovers we had.
Atypical of any game was the scary moment when Allisha Gray after scoring on a great move to the basket through multiple defenders, came down awkwardly and stayed down. Thankfully she got up before we all passed out from holding our breath. She returned to the game a few minutes later. Reading over www.espn.com today shows me we were fortunate. A couple of other teams lost seniors to injuries over the weekend. One of them (Minnesota's Banham) is done for the season with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament tear. It's such a sad thing when that happens.
Back to the game, this was one where North Carolina could give its considerable depth a workout. Every available player saw the floor and we were treated to some great stuff. Hilary Summers and Hilary Fuller didn't score; but they combined for 8 rebounds in 14 combined minutes and that is big considering UNC's rebounding challenges lately. As to the rest of the our bench, we'll start with the comeback kid.
Megan Buckland: 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal (photos from www.goheels.com)
I was so tickled with Megan's performance in this game. She played 21 minutes and sank 2 of the 3 three-point shots she took. She also moved really well on defense and drew two charges on Appalachian State. She was getting her shot off faster and wow was it looking good. It is so wonderful to see her gaining confidence.
N'dea Bryant: 9 points, 2 rebounds, 3 steals (photo from www.carolinatimes.com)
We got a taste, and I'm convinced it was just a taste of what N'dea Bryant is capable of in this game. She's just an amazing athlete. I remember pulling my phone out after one of the rebounds she got and tweeting, "can about jump out of the gym" and that is what that rebound inspired. Between her wing span and vertical leap, she is really something to watch. A few more of those pull-up jumpers fall and we're looking at a career high. It was a season high for her though.
Danielle Butts: 6 points, 4 rebounds (associated press photo)
Our power pack was a pest on defense when she was in the game, just frustrating to deal with for the opposition. Looking at the numbers you couldn't ask more from a player in 10 minutes of game time. That aforementioned fast break was a thing of beauty. It wasn't the easiest pass to catch and to get it into the basket and keep her body under control...I know it wasn't easy even though she made it look so.
Jessica Washington: 6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists (photo from www.goheels.com)
Kind of a tough shooting night; but, otherwise a nice outing for Jessica. I can see she is gaining confidence in how she moves around the court in the sets the team runs. And the way she rebounds at her size is impressive. Never been afraid to get in there and mix it up to crash the boards for this team. Only one other player got more than 6 rebounds yesterday.
Jamie Cherry: 8 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals (associated press photo)
Kind of a tough shooting night for Jamie as well, especially at the line; but, she stayed aggressive, especially on the defensive end of the court. Overall I'm more than impressed with UNC's lone freshman. First semester away from home is always tough and this team has been traveling a lot; but, she's been a contributor in every game.
Our starters put in the bulk of the minutes; but no one played over 25. The only exception was Brittany. She appeared to be dealing with maybe some soreness; but I honestly don't know anything other than I hope it's gone by Tuesday. She has been having a really good year and was great at Rutgers. She did start each half. Her teammates had her back though.
Latifah Coleman: 9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block (photo from www.goheels.com)
I'm loving what I'm seeing from Latifah (Coleman) this season. She's more aggressive offensively, even more aggressive on defense (didn't think that was possible) and the intensity is that of a senior playing with a sense of urgency. She even after driving to the basket and getting some contact, she gave our friends in the black and white shirts her opinion on the matter. I'm not sure I have ever seen her do that. I like it.
And not that anyone asked; but I can't say I particularly cared for how our friends in the black and white shirts impacted the game. I know that as aggressive as UNC's defense plays there are going to be whistles. Consistency is my concern. Seemed they switched officials at half time even though I know they didn't. We had 3 fouls the first half and 3 fouls in the first 2 minutes of the second. Interesting stuff huh? But I digress.
Allisha Gray: 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals (photo from www.goheels.com)
I think Allisha did everything except hit a 3 pointer in this game. Such a multidimensional wonder she is on the court. She was taking players off the dribble, dishing to teammates, crashing the boards and wreaking, havoc on defense. After almost giving everyone a heart attack early on, she had a great afternoon.
Xylina McDaniel: 7 points, 3 rebounds, 4 steals (photo from www.goheels.com)
The numbers suggest a quiet game for Xylina; but, she was all over the court on defense when she was out there (hence the 4 steals). Appalachian State was also double teaming her when she touched the ball; so things were kind of tough on the offensive end. She mentioned in a recent feature that she is always confident her teammates have her back and her frontcourt partner was out there making things happen yesterday.
Stephanie Mavunga: 19 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks (photo from www.goheels.com)
What can I say about this young lady's performance. She stuffed the entire stat sheet and used her size to dominate the game while she was in there. The Appalachian State players did try to push her away from the basket; but she was really too much for them. She shot 70% from the field and made all 5 of her free throws. Also added 3 more blocks to her total. She's on a record pace in that category with over 130 so far this season. For some perspective, a fellow fan who previews each opponent for us, let us know that she came into this game with 50 more blocks than Appalachian State has as a team.
So takeaways from this game? It was just good to see the team back in Carmichael again. And it was good to get the first game after finals out of the way. There is always of course a bit of a break and the first game afterwards tends to be up and down in nature. But the free throw shooting for the team was improved. They did, as they should considering the size of each team, control the board and limited Appalachian State to 8 offensive rebounds; so they couldn't get many second chance points. The intensity on defense resulted in 30 turnovers for the Mountaineers. We also held them below 30% shooting in the 2nd half.
Have to build on that because Oregon State comes calling tomorrow night. They are a top 20 team and will be the 5th team UNC plays that is ranked as of the date of the game. It's already been mentioned UNC is the only team to take on and defeat four ranked teams this season and it would be great to get the win tomorrow night. It would be a huge step towards getting through the Out of Conference portion of the season undefeated.
Go Heels!
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