UNC rang in the New Year by outscoring Cal 39-21 in the second half to beat the Bears 71-55 at Carmichael Arena Thursday afternoon.
The Tar Heels led 9-0 inside the first three minutes, but Cal closed the quarter strong and led 17-14 after 10 minutes. The Bears extended that lead to four points in the second quarter and five in the third, but baskets from Lanie Grant, Indya Nivar and Reniya Kelly sparked a 10-2 Carolina run to turn a 43-40 deficit into a 50-45 lead in the third quarter’s final minute.
Kelly and Nivar were back at it in the fourth, combining with teammate Taissa Queiroz to score the period’s first eight points. UNC led 58-47, then got more baskets from Queiroz and Nivar to push the advantage to 13 points at 62-49. Cal only made four total shots in the final 10 minutes, and Carolina eventually led by as many as 18 points.
UNC shot 17-33 (51.5 percent) in the second half and 10-17 (58.8 percent) in the fourth quarter, whereas Cal shot just 9-26 (34.6 percent) in the half and 1-10 on three-pointers. The Bears had made six of nine three-point attempts in the first half.
Nivar led the Tar Heels in both points (16) and assists (six), while Ciera Toomey and Nyla Harris each scored 13. Queiroz’s six points off the bench tied a career-high for the Brazilian national. She accounted for more than half of Carolina’s 11 bench points. As a team, UNC outscored Cal 50-26 in the paint and 12-2 on fast breaks.
The win is UNC’s fourth in a row and improves the team’s record to 13-3 overall and 2-1 in ACC play. Carolina is also 7-1 in Carmichael Arena. The Tar Heels will look to build on that record when they host Stanford in Chapel Hill Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Featured image via UNC Women’s Basketball on Twitter
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