UNC Basketball: Tar Heels lose tough road game to scorching Seminoles

The UNC basketball program had another tough weekend, as both the men’s and women’s teams lost conference games on consecutive days

After what will likely be remembered as the most colossal meltdown in the history of the North Carolina men’s basketball program, the UNC women’s team suffered a tough conference loss just a day later.

Led by Nausia Woolfolk’s 21 points and Nicki Ekhomu’s 20, the Florida State Seminoles beat the Tar Heels 78-64 on Sunday afternoon. Woolfolk hit 7-of-13 shots from the floor and 6-of-8 from the free throw line, while Ekhomu knocked down 7-of-10 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe.

Florida State got six other players in the scoring column, too, and shot an incredible 56.9 percent for the game. The hot-shooting Seminoles hit 29-of-51 shots for the game, 6-of-15 from the free throw line and 14-of-20 from the foul line. The victory improved the eleventh-ranked Seminoles to 15-2 on the season, and 4-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

UNC senior guard Taylor Koenen led the way for North Carolina with 22 points of 8-of-17 shooting, and six made three-pointers. She played all 40 minutes of the game. Two other Tar Heels scored in double-figures; Janelle Bailey had 11, and Malu Tshitenge had 10. Madinah Muhammad recorded eight points and four rebounds on a difficult 3-for-14 shooting performance, and North Carolina hit just 38.2 percent of its shots as a team.

The Tar Heels did hit 40 percent of their three-point tries, but only got to the foul line four times. They lost the rebounding battle 32-29 to the Seminoles, and committed 16 fouls to the Florida State’s 13. The loss dropped North Carolina to 12-4 overall, and 3-2 in conference play.

The Tar Heels will be back in action when they play the Miami Hurricanes at Carmichael Arena on Thursday night.

Check back with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the North Carolina women’s hoops program, and everything UNC basketball.