CHAPEL HILL – UNC takes on Delaware at 7 p.m. Tuesday night in Newark, a home game for the Fightin’ Blue Hens who are riding high on a 26-game winning streak.
And it’ll be a hostile environment in the Bob Carpenter Center. Delaware’s first round match up against West Virginia was a sell out.
Delaware (31-3) has only dropped three games this season, were perfect in conference play, and claimed the Colonial Athletic Association title.
UNC (29-6) barely escaped No. 14 seed Albany on Sunday. Carolina gave the Great Danes 18 points off turnovers, shot 34.5 percent from the field, and struggled from three-point range, making 4-17.
Senior Tierra Ruffin-Pratt carried the Heels to a 59-54 victory over Delaware, scoring more than half of UNC’s points. She posted a career-high 30 points, made two crucial free throws in the last 10 seconds of play, and scored 17 of the Tar Heels’ final 21 points.
Ruffin-Pratt is just the third player in UNC history to score 30 points in an NCAA tournament game.
The star watch is also on Delaware’s leading scorer, Elena Delle Donne, who put up 33 points in the victory against WVU. The 6 foot 5 senior center is going into the game knowing it will be her last appearance in her home gym.
By the numbers, it should be a fairly even-matched game. Carolina averages 69.1 points per game to the Blue Hens’ 66.8. The Blue Hens allow an average of 51.2 points per game to UNC’s 59.8.
On the season, Carolina is 9-0 in games decided by five points or less.
That’s good to know if the Heels take it down to the wire again.
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