Tar Heels Beat TCU to Stay Undefeated

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Five Tar Heels scored in double figures as the No. 12 UNC women’s basketball team beat visiting TCU 75-48 Saturday afternoon at Carmichael Arena. Carolina used a 27-6 third-quarter advantage to break open a close game and improve to 2-0 on the season.

Tar Heel juniors Kennedy Todd-Williams and Alyssa Ustby finished with 14 points each, Deja Kelly had 12, and Anya Poole and Destiny Adams chipped in 10 each. For Adams, who came off the bench to play just under 20 minutes, the total tied her career high and she also equaled her career best in rebounds with seven, six of them offensive.

Poole led the way with eight boards and senior Eva Hodgson grabbed seven, her high as a Tar Heel and one shy of the career-best eight she had while playing at William & Mary.

Kelly handed out a team-best seven assists, one short of her career high, and equaled her career best with four steals.

Chilly shooting plagued UNC early – the Tar Heels were 5-16 for 31.3 percent from the field in the first quarter – and the Horned Frogs led 17-15 at the end of the opening period following an 11-2 run.

TCU extended its lead to four on a jumper by Emily Fisher for the first points of the second quarter, but that proved to be the visitors’ largest advantage for the rest of the game. Carolina put together an 11-0 run that included points from five different players to build a seven-point lead, 26-19, with three minutes to play before halftime, and TCU never again got closer than four.

The Tar Heels led 30-24 at halftime before making their mark in the third quarter, when they shot 61.1 percent (11-18) to outscore TCU by 21 points. They came out of the locker room with a 7-0 run to make it 37-24 then held onto a double-digit lead for the rest of the game

After TCU’s Tomi Taiwo made a layup to bring her team within 10, 40-30 with 5:35 to play in the third, UNC put together a 17-0 run, capped by a pair of Kelly free throws with 48 seconds in the period. Carolina led 57-30 heading into the fourth quarter and maintained a comfortable lead for the rest of the game.

UNC held a 46-8 advantage in points in the paint and out-rebounded TCU 47-30. All nine Tar Heels in uniform scored.

The Horned Frogs hit nine three-pointers to UNC’s three but made just 14 field goals overall and were 14-56 (25.0) on the day. Taiwo finished with a team-high 15 points and Fisher had 10.

The Tar Heels play one more home game before hitting the road for the first time. They host South Carolina State on Wednesday at 11 a.m. for a game that will bring busloads of school kids to Carmichael on field trips. After that UNC travels to face James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va., on Nov. 20, then flies to Portland, Ore., for the Phil Knight Invitational over Thanksgiving weekend.