No. 10 North Carolina Too Much For Runnin' Bulldogs in 83-62 Win
December 31, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Boiling Springs, N.C. - The Gardner-Webb women's basketball team wrapped up the 2010 calendar year with a home game against the No. 10 North Carolina Lady Tar Heels on Friday afternoon, a game in which the height and athleticism bothered the Runnin' Bulldogs all day long as the Lady Tar Heels pulled away for the 83-62 win in front of a crowd of 2750 in Paul Porter Arena.
The athleticism of the undefeated and nationally ranked Lady Tar Heels was prevalent from start to finish, as the visitors scored off the opening tip and never looked back.
Gardner-Webb was bothered throughout the game with the length and athleticism of the bigs down low for the Lady Tar Heels, as GWU started out the game ice cold from the floor offensively, shooting only 2-of-11 from the field in the first five minutes of play to find themselves down nine at 15-6.
With the cold shooting continuing throughout the first half for GWU, as well as no Sandra Vaitkute down low, missing her third game in a row due to an injury, the Runnin' Bulldogs struggled on the offensive end, while the Lady Tar Heels were knocking down shots, shooting 54.3 percent in the first 20 minutes of play, to push its lead to as much as 26 points in the first half before taking a 54-32 halftime lead.
Despite shooting only 28.9 percent in the first half, including preseason All-Big South selection Dominique Hudson going 0-for-10 overall, the Runnin' Bulldogs came out with a sense of urgency in the second half, going on a 5-0 run capped off by a jumper from senior forward LaTroya Pope, to cut the North Carolina lead to 17 at 54-37 with 17 minutes in regulation.
GWU would hang around to cut the Lady Tar Heels lead to 15 at 60-45 on a lay up by redshirt-junior Sierra Little, but without Dominique Hudson, who missed much of the second half with four fouls, and Vaikute on the floor, the North Carolina firepower was just too much for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
North Carolina again pushed its lead to 20 in the late minutes of the contest, before the final horn sounded with the score North Carolina 83 and Gardner-Webb 62.
In the second half the Runnin' Bulldogs shot 48.1 percent from the floor and actually outscored North Carolina 30-29 over the final 20 minutes of play.
However, North Carolina outscored GWU 40-24 in points in the paint and 26-17 in points off turnovers for the game.
Senior guard Monique Hudson had a team-high 16 points for the Runnin' Bulldogs, while freshman Jasmine Dale and Little had 11 and 10 points, respectively, off the bench for Coach Reeves' squad.
Freshman center Catrina Green had a huge game on the glass for GWU, as she hauled in a career-high 11 rebounds in the loss.
For North Carolina, Italee Lucas led the way with a game-high 29 points, with 23 of those coming in the first half of play. Forward Jessica Breland just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Chay Shegog had 16 points off the bench for the Lady Tar Heels.
Point guard Cetera DeGraffenreid was the catalyst in the North Carolina offense on Friday afternoon, as the senior dished out a game-high 15 assists in 34 minutes of play.
The Runnin' Bulldogs fall to 0-4 all-time versus top-25 nationally ranked opponents, including falling to 0-2 all-time against the North Carolina Lady Tar Heels.
Gardner-Webb (8-5) will tip-off its 2010-11 Big South Conference slate at home against Charleston Southern on Monday, January 3rd, at 7 p.m. in Paul Porter Arena.
North Carolina (13-0) will host North Carolina Central at 7 p.m. on January 3rd in Chapel Hill, N.C.
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| Box Score: #10 North Carolina 83, Gardner-Webb 62 |
