CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The 12th–ranked North Carolina Tar Heels women’s basketball team hasn’t had much game time to prepare for the 4th– ranked Tennessee Volunteers who they will tip-off against at Carmichael Arena during prime time on ESPN2 on Monday.
Having opened the season by downing the Air Force Falcons 87-26 on Friday, the Tar Heels will face one of their toughest opponents all season with the lone win on their resume to date.
Against the Falcons, the Tar Heels offense was led by its sizeable and talented troika of freshmen – Stephanie Mavunga (16 points, 13 rebounds), Diamond DeShields (16 points), and Allisha Gray (13 points, 6 rebounds) – in staging a dominating win that limited their opponent to a 14 percent shooting output throughout the game.
Junior Erika Johnson (7 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals) and sophomore Xylina McDaniel (9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal) supported the win with efficient work at both ends of the court during 15 minutes of playing for each of them.
North Carolina will look to get on the right side of the score sheet against Tennessee at home after suffering a 102-57 loss to the Vols in Knoxville, Tenn. last season on Nov. 28.
The 9 p.m. tip against Tennessee is part of ESPN’s College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, featuring 24 hours of basketball coverage of both men’s and women’s games on the network.
A win for North Carolina on Monday would make it the first time the Tar Heels would top a 4th-ranked team since notching a75-60 victory over Duke on Feb. 9, 2009 at Carmichael Arena.