CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – December 18th, 2024
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Recap below…
In the third annual Jumpman Invitational from the Spectrum Center, No. 19 North Carolina jumped back on track with a 77-57 victory over the Florida Gators on Wednesday night. In signature Tar Heel fashion, its defense held Florida to its fewest amount of points in a game this season.
North Carolina (11-2) grabbed its second win over an SEC team this season in defeating Florida (7-5), in a balanced attack over the Gators. Leading the Tar Heels, Maria Gakdeng scored a team-high 14 points while shooting five-of-six from the field and grabbed a UNC best eight rebounds.. Tallying a career-high five field goals, Lanie Grant recorded her second double-figure game with 13 points while adding three made triples. Rounding out the Tar Heels in double-digits, Alyssa Ustby added 11 points and three assists.
The Carolina bench remains a dangerous threat, with all reserves outscoring the Gator bench 30-16. Making Florida pay for its mistakes, UNC scored 21 points off of 20 Gator miscues.
UNC and UF took a bit to warm up to shooting in the Spectrum Center, with a low scoring affair through the opening minutes. As the Tar Heels began to heat up, back-to-back three’s off the bench from Grant provided Carolina a double-figure lead sparked a flurry of five three’s to lead 23-7 through one.
Forcing the Gators into a multi-minute scoring drought, Grant remained on a scoring burst to reach double-figures for the second time this year and extend the Carolina advantage. In holding Florida to its fewest points in a half this season, UNC carried a 41-20 lead into the half.
Carolina continued to move the ball at a high level to maintain its lead over the Gators. Florida proved to not go away quietly, with a 14-0 run midway through the third quarter to close the gap to 13. Answering quickly with a 8-0 run of its own, North Carolina continued to pad its lead over the Gators, ahead 59-40 through three.
Although Florida continued to throw blows at Carolina, the Tar Heels efficiency in the paint as well as taking advantage of Gator turnovers allowed them to maintain their double-digit advantage. Carolina went on to pick up its second straight win at the Jumpman Invitational with a 77-57 victory over Florida.
North Carolina returns home to Chapel Hill for its final game of its non-conference slate, hosting Norfolk State for a Saturday matinee. Tip from Carmichael arena is set for 12 p.m. ET, streaming on ACCNX.
Written by GoHeels.com
https://goheels.com/news/2024/12/18/womens-basketball-no-19-wbb-rolls-past-florida-at-jumpman-invitational
1 Comment
Florida pissing me off looking off O'Neal