“It was a typical Carolina [versus] Clemson game,” said Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell. “It was up and down.”
The game remained close throughout the first eight minutes of the first half until Carolina went on a 9-0 run starting at 12:36, with a pass from Coretta Brown that resulted in a Jennifer Thomas finish. Clemson managed to battle back thanks to an 11-0 run of its own.
The Tigers led by one point at half thanks to some hot shooting from senior guard Krystal Scott. Scott had 12 points at half on 5-for-6 shooting.
Clemson as a team shot 51.7 percent from the field in the first half, while Carolina only connected on 40.6 percent of their shot attempts.
The story of the second half was Clemson’s inability to guard Tar Heels center Candace Sutton. Part of the problem was starting center Maggie Slosser’s foul trouble.
“They were in a 1-3-1, so we went to our set and started getting Candace the ball,” Hatchell said. “That gave us the edge during that span.”
“We didn’t have an answer for Sutton,” said Clemson head coach Jim Davis.
Sutton finished the game 4-for-7 from the field, but added eight free throws on 12 attempts. She finished with 16 points and six rebounds.
With 9:15 left in the game, Clemson remained only four points down, 54-50. Coretta Brown hit four three-pointers in a span of six minutes to help stretch the lead out to 69-60.
Teasley’s free throws managed to seal the Tar Heels’ sixth consecutive victory despite Chrissy Floyd’s baskets in the final minutes of the game. Floyd finished with 24 points on 11-for-15 shooting.
“She’s a great offensive player,” said Hatchell of the Clemson star.
Krystal Scott added 18 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Tigers.
Coretta Brown led the Tar Heels in scoring with 18 points on 6-for-19 shooting despite suffering from the beginning symptoms of a cold. Teasley added 14 points and tied a season high with 9 assists.
Carolina out-rebounded Clemson 41-34 thanks to major contributions from freshmen Kenya McBee and Nikita Bell, who combined for 13 rebounds, 15 points and three steals.
“We got beat in both hustle areas, offensive rebounds and steals,” said Coach Davis on the main factor in the loss.
The Tar Heels (20-6, 9-4) face Georgia Tech on Sunday in Atlanta at 2 p.m. In the teams last meeting, Georgia Tech defeated the Heels 81-62.
Hatchell said of the match-up: “Georgia Tech is big Sunday. They beat us big here. Rebounding will be big. They are the best rebounding team in the conference.”
CLEMSON (76)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Roper 26 1-8 2-3 1-4 2 2 4
Glenney 30 4-9 2-6 4-5 1 5 11
Slosser 18 1-3 0-0 0-2 0 5 2
Floyd 37 11-15 0-1 1-5 1 3 24
Scott 33 7-11 2-4 0-5 5 5 18
Aderhold 28 2-5 1-2 1-3 0 2 6
Queen 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Stokes 16 3-5 0-0 1-4 2 0 8
Blackmon 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Shafer 4 0-0 0-0 0-3 0 1 0
Vasilas 1 0-3 3-3 0-0 0 1 3
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TOTALS 200 29-59 10-19 8-31 12 25 76
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Percentages: FG-.492, FT-.526. 3-Point Goals:
8-17, .471 (Glenney 1-4, Floyd 2-3, Scott 2-4,
Aderhold 1-2, Stokes 2-3, Vasilas 0-1). Team
rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 5 (Stokes 2, Floyd,
Roper, Blackmon). Turnovers: 16 (Glenney 4, Scott
3, Floyd 2, Aderhold, Queen, Roper, Shafer,
Stokes). Steals: 5 (Roper 2, Floyd, Scott,
Stokes).
NORTH CAROLINA (86)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Thomas 22 3-5 4-6 3-6 0 4 10
C Brown 35 6-19 0-2 5-5 3 1 18
Sutton 28 4-7 8-12 1-6 2 0 16
Metcalf 24 4-8 2-2 0-2 3 3 13
Teasley 34 1-10 11-12 0-3 9 3 14
Bell 21 4-4 1-3 1-6 1 2 9
Mcbee 18 2-4 2-4 4-7 1 3 6
Chambers 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Baptist 11 0-2 0-0 1-2 0 2 0
Laaksonen 1 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 1 0
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TOTALS 200 24-61 28-41 16-38 19 19 86
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Percentages: FG-.393, FT-.683. 3-Point Goals:
10-27, .370 (C Brown 6-12, Metcalf 3-6, Teasley
1-7, Mcbee 0-1, Chambers 0-1). Team rebounds: 3.
Blocked shots: 4 (Thomas, Sutton, Teasley,
Mcbee). Turnovers: 11 (Metcalf 2, Sutton 2,
Teasley 2, Baptist, Bell, C Brown, Thomas).
Steals: 7 (Bell 2, Baptist, C Brown, Mcbee,
Teasley, Thomas).
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Clemson 37 39 - 76
North Carolina 35 51 - 86
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Technical fouls: None. A: 1,115. Officials: John
Morningstar, Bill Franklin, Don Johnson.