The UNC women’s basketball team can’t stop blowing out opponents. The Tar Heels continued their dominant start to the 2021-22 season with a third consecutive big win, defeating Appalachian State 89-44 in Carmichael Arena Wednesday night.

The win moves Carolina to 3-0 on the young season. Each of the team’s three wins have come by at least 45-point margins.

As has been the case with each game, the Tar Heels exploded out of the gate and buried the opponent by the first quarter horn. With 10 minutes gone, Carolina led 22-4. With 20 minutes gone, they led 40-7. The seven points allowed in the first half is the lowest mark in any half in head coach Courtney Banghart’s tenure in Chapel Hill. The Mountaineers shot just 23.8 percent in the game, including 1-15 and 1-13 marks in the first and second quarters, respectively. The UNC defense also forced 28 turnovers.

Four Tar Heels scored in double figures on the night, and all 11 players who recorded playing time scored at least two points. In Banghart’s balanced substitution pattern, no player logged fewer than eight minutes, nor more than 31.

Sophomore guard Deja Kelly put up her best statistical game of the season, leading Carolina with 18 points on 7-15 shooting, including three three-pointers. Fellow sophomore Anya Poole continued her impressive start to the campaign with 16 points in just 19 minutes. Guard Kennedy Todd-Williams, who stands three inches shorter than Poole, led the Tar Heels with an impressive 12 rebounds against the Mountaineers. She had pulled down 14 in the first two games combined.

Highly-touted freshmen Morasha Wiggins and Destiny Adams combined for 20 points off the bench, with Wiggins stroking two three-pointers. Junior transfer Eva Hodgson had herself a busy day at the office, stuffing the stat sheet with six points, four rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block, all off the bench.

With the win, Carolina has outscored its opponents 270-124 this season. Their schedule will get significantly more difficult in the coming days, with the Tar Heels paying a visit to TCU Sunday afternoon. After that, they will travel to the Bahamas over the Thanksgiving holiday for the Goombay Splash tournament. UNC will face off against either VCU or Washington in the first game.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati

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