By: by Jason Hanes
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Tamasha Bolden scored 12 points to lead Kennesaw State, but No. 7-ranked North Carolina had four players score in double figures as they defeated the Lady Owls, 89-44, at Carmichael Arena on Tuesday afternoon.
The Lady Owls (4-7) stayed close to the nationally ranked Lady Tar Heels early in the game and found themselves tied at six after Montinique Nixon hit a lay-up with 16:06 left in the half.
The game stayed tied until the 14:28 mark when North Carolina’s Tierra Ruffin-Pratt hit a short jumper to ignite a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to begin to put the game quickly out of reach.
Baskets by Gia Locket and Angie Smith on consecutive possessions stopped the Lady Tar Heels barrage and cut the North Carolina lead to 19-10 with 11:01 left in the half, but that was as close as the Lady Owls would get the remainder of the afternoon.
North Carolina (10-1) would race to a 17-2 run over the next five minutes to make the score 36-12 with six minutes left in the half. Kennesaw State would be able to regroup over the final portion of the half as their deficit stayed at 24 points at intermission, 45-21.
Kennesaw State would shoot just 30 percent from the field in the game, including 3-of-20 from three-point range, connecting on 19-of-63 shots. Meanwhile, the hometown Lady Tar Heels were connecting at a 49 percent rate, going 37-for-76 from the floor, despite making just 3-of-14 three-point shots.
The Lady Owls had no answer for the inside game of North Carolina as the Lady Tar Heels out-rebounded Kennesaw State, 61-27, in the game and had a 28-12 advantage on the offensive glass. The Lady Tar Heels outscored KSU 62-10 in the paint and also outscored Kennesaw State 44-4 off the bench.
In the second half, North Carolina quickly went on a 9-2 spurt to build their lead to 31 points as the Black and Gold couldn’t come within 30 points the remainder of the afternoon. The Lady Owls were outscored 44-23 in the second half as UNC shot 51 percent from the field.
Lockett (4-for-13) finished the afternoon with 11 points while Smith (4-for-15) added nine points. Nixon had eight points on 4-of-7 shooting and added a team-high seven rebounds.
Italee Lucas had a game-high 16 points and Waltiea Rolle added 13 points for North Carolina who also received double figure scoring from Trinity Bursey (11 points) and Cierra Robertson-Warren who scored 10 points and had nine rebounds in 16 minutes.
The Lady Owls will be back in action this weekend for Atlantic Sun Conference play when they head to Jacksonville, Fla. to play North Florida on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and Jacksonville on Monday at 5:00 p.m.
