If you could imagine, the most physical game that a Tar Heels team was playing on Saturday afternoon wasn't taking place in Winston-Salem.
The UNC women's basketball program was challenged to a fight by the Fairfield Stags, a 12-round bout that ended in favor of the Tar Heels.
The Stags brought it right out of the gate, securing a 19-11 lead after one quarter of play. Not much went right for the Tar Heels over the first 10 minutes of action, but as we've seen on multiple occasions thus far, this team shouldn't be counted out by any means.
North Carolina dominated the second quarter, outscoring Fairfield 26-6 in the frame, taking a 12-point lead into the break.
Fairfield wouldn't go away, trimming the Tar Heels lead to as close as three. However, every time the Stags punched, the Tar Heels responded with a punch of their own, finding a way to secure a double-digit victory to wrap up the WBCA Challenge in Las Vegas.
The story for North Carolina was the production they received from the reserves. Nyla Harris, who started each of the three prior games, came off the bench to provide 19 minutes of strong basketball, scoring 12 points while hauling in 7 rebounds. Freshman Nyla Brooks scored 12 points of her own, while Laila Hull led the team with 14 points, connecting on four shots from beyond-the-arc.
Ciera Toomey continues to be a consistent plug in the post, finishing the night with 12 points and five rebounds. Indya Nivar had another multi-steal outing, securing four steals in just 18 minutes of work.
After the loss to UCLA, it was going to be interesting to see how this young group responded. They responded quite well, especially in a game that was very physical for the entire 40 minutes of play.
Now, the Tar Heels will head back to the state of North Carolina as they'll make the short trip to NC A&T on November 20 before returning home for a four-game home stand as non-conference action heats up.