The No. 18 NC State women’s basketball team lost to UNC-Chapel Hill, 83-70, in Chapel Hill Sunday.
The Wolfpack (16-6, 6-3 ACC) could not find a groove against the Tar Heels (13-9, 2-7 ACC) as the Heels ended the Pack’s three-game winning streak. The Tar Heels converted a program-record 14 3-pointers in the game, with six of the 14 coming from junior guard Jamie Cherry as she scored a career-high 23 points.
“Give Carolina a lot of credit, they shot the ball unbelievably well,” head coach Wes Moore said. “Of course we did have a chance to guard them but we didn’t quite get that done.”
Before the match began, the intensity was high as a lot of NC State fans were cheering loudly, which competed with the Tar Heels cheering.
UNC was able to solidify an early lead after it went on an 8-0 run to take the lead, 12-6. State could not control the ball in the first as the Wolfpack tallied five turnovers and the Heels took advantage of that as they tallied 10 points off turnovers. Carolina held onto the lead at the end of the first, 22-10.
The opening 90 seconds of the second quarter was scoreless, but UNC ended the scoring drought with a three. NC State was able to outscore the Heels in the second and end the quarter on a 10-0 run, but was unable to regain the lead as the Heels led at halftime, 35-27.
The Heels found their groove from behind the arc early as they shot 46 percent in the first half. The Pack struggled offensively, as it shot only 31 percent from the field and went 4 of 16 from the 3-point line in the first half.
“I do think we can shoot the ball better than we have the last couple of games,” Moore said. “All in all, we’re going to shoot the ball better. We have a lot of great shooters on this team, so I have no doubt we’ll bounce back and knock down some shots.”
The Tar Heels struggled for just a moment in the second half when the Pack entered into a full-court press, but after a quick timeout, the Heels were able to re-evaluate and execute plays against the press.
“We have four [players] out there that played point guard in high school,” UNC head coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “We are really hard to press, so we sort-of like it when people press us, to be honest.”
The Tar Heels kept regained their momentum as they shot an outstanding 5 of 7 from behind the arc. Cherry led the way, tallying 12 points in the third and converting four 3-pointers in five attempts. UNC led at the end of the third, 61-45.
State came out in the fourth quarter as it was able to cut the lead down to just five, 65-60. Redshirt senior guard Dominique Wilson led the way for the Pack, as she tallied eight-straight points in order to help State reduce the deficit.
“I’m proud of our kids; we dug a hole again but battled back,” Moore said. “We did a lot of good things [and had] a lot of hustle plays, but it just wasn’t enough today.”
The Tar Heels did not give up hope as they continued to play hard and matched each point that the Wolfpack scored. Cherry took control of the fourth as she tallied 11 points to help the Heels secure the win, 83-70.
The Pack continues its road streak as it travels to No. 9 Louisville Thursday.
Senior forward Jennifer Mathurin has the ball stripped while trying to go for a breakaway layup. Mathurin had 13 points on 4-15 shooting. The Wolfpack struggled shooting 32.9% from the floor ending in an 83-70 loss to UNC on Jan. 29 in Carmichael Arena.
