CHAPEL HILL – Strong shooting early and a career night by UNC women’s basketball’s Xylina McDaniel helped the No. 18 Tar Heels past the No. 15 Nebraska Cornhuskers in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge Wednesday night, 75-62.

The Cornhuskers came out hot from behind the arc shooting 4-5 in the first four and a half minutes. The Tar Heels were forced to take a timeout down 16-7.

However, Carolina came out of the break with a 4-0 run to keep the deficit manageable. Then the Heels came out of the under-12-minute timeout with another 4-0 run to bring the game within one at 21-20.

UNC held the first lead of the game at 2-0, but took it over again at 24-23 in the middle of a 14-2 run and extended the lead to 12 before taking the lead into the half, 40-30.

McDaniel shot 7-7 from the field in the first half for 17 points. As a team, the Tar Heels shot 53 percent from the field in the first half; the Huskers also turned the ball over 13 times in the first compared to just six by the Heels.

Carolina held its double-digit lead for most of the second half. The Tar Heels’ shooting fell off a little in the second, but the team still finished at 48 percent.

McDaniel tied her career total with 25 points shooting 11-15; she also tallied eight rebounds. Allisha Gray also scored in double digits with 14.

With the win, Carolina improved to 7-2; Nebraska fell to 6-2.

UNC has ten days off to prepare for Charleston Southern, which comes to Chapel Hill December 14.

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