It was a tale of two halves in Chapel Hill on Thursday night.
After a rough offensive first half, the UNC women's basketball program found a way to turn it up a notch, securing a double-digit victory over the visiting Elon Phoenix at Carmichael Arena.
Neither team was finding a lot of success shooting the basketball throughout the first half. Combined, the two teams connected on just 18–57 shots, including 3-25 from three-point range.
It was a back-and-forth affair deep into the second quarter, but the momentum started to shift just before the teams went to the locker room. North Carolina rode a 7-0 run into the break and came out firing in the second half, outscoring Phoenix 42-17 over the final 20 minutes of action.
While the three-point shooting didn't improve much throughout the second half, the defense and transition basketball surely did. Indya Nivar once again was a menace on the defensive side of the ball, recording six steals, nearly flirting with triple-double numbers. The senior added 13 points and seven rebounds, making her presence known everytime she was on the court.
As a team, the Tar Heels out-rebounded the Phoenix 47-35. A staggering 21 of those rebounds for the home team came via offensive boards, as Ciera Toomey's five offensive rebounds paced the way for second chance opportunities.
Along with Nivar, four other Tar Heels scored in double-figures. Lanie Grant added 11 points in her season debut, while Nyla Harris (who was limited by foul trouble early), Taliyah Henderson and Nyla Brooks each contributed 10 points of their own. Toomey was a bucket short of a second consecutive double-double, as she is doing an excellent job making her presence felt in the post.
Of course, a win is a win. That is the main thing.
Sure, Courtney Banghart and her staff definitely aren't loving the shooting numbers (especially from beyond the arc) and would love to limit the turnovers moving forward. That being said: this is one of the youngest teams in the country, a group that deserves a lot of credit for how they came out to play in the second half.
Good teams find ways to pull away even when they don't have their best night. By no stretch of the imagination was it this team's best performance, but it's one that will certainly help them improve as they get deeper into non-conference action.
The Tar Heels have a week off before heading to Las Vegas to take on UCLA in a top-25 showdown.