UNC 99, Mount Olive 45
CHAPEL HILL, N.C – Jamie Cherry and Destinee Walker combined for 46 points to lead the No. 22 North Carolina Tar Heels to a 99-45 exhibition victory over the Mount Olive Trojans at Carmichael Arena on Monday.
Carolina placed six players in double figures, led by 23 points posted by Cherry and Walker.
N’Dea Bryant scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while forwards Hillary Summers and Erika Johnson contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Freshman Stephanie Watts also chipped in with 11 points and nine boards in the dominating win.
UNC forced 38 turnovers, had 23 steals, and converted those into 43 points.
Cherry had six steals, while Watts had five, to go along with three blocks apiece from Bryant and Summers.
Tommarah Harris led Mount Olive with 14 points, while Kiara Jones added eight points for the Trojans, a Division II team that plays out of Conference Carolinas.
The game featured a husband and wife going head-to-head from opposite benches as UNC coaching staff member Billy Lee, a Mount Olive graduate, was opposed by his wife, Wendy Lee, the Mount Olive head coach who is in her 16th season leading the Trojans bench.
Wendy played college basketball for Sammy Hatchell at Meredith College, the husband of UNC Hall of Fame head coach Sylvia Hatchell.
After posting two preseason wins, North Carolina opens the season at home against Gardner-Webb on Friday.
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N.C. State 72, Wingate 37
RALEIGH, N.C. – The N.C. State Wolfpack cruised to a 72-37 exhibition win over the visiting Wingate Bulldogs at Broughton High School’s Holliday Gymnasium on Sunday.
Sunday’s game marked the first of 14 this season that will be played at the nearby school while NC State’s home arena – Reynolds Coliseum – undergoes a $35 million renovation that is scheduled to be completed in August 2016.
Two upcoming N.C. State games – Nov. 13 vs. Villanova and Nov. 17 vs. Radford – will be played at PNC Arena.
Against the Bulldogs, 15 of the Wolfpack’s 16 rostered players saw playing time, with all six freshmen and redshirt freshman Sara Boric earning minutes.
Guard Dominique Wilson led the Wolfpack offense with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field which included a 4-8 mark from beyond the arc.
Freshman Kaila Ealey grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and junior Miah Spencer dished out a game-high seven assists.
“I’m really pleased with the intensity we showed today,” N.C. State head coach Wes Moore said.
“We got a lot a players some minutes and I think they maximized their opportunities. We still have a lot of things to clean up and this is really your last dress rehearsal from here on out because they all count, and they are all big.”
NC State scored 29 points off 23 Wingate turnovers, pulled down 62 rebounds, and recorded 18 assists and 18 steals.
“It was great to some of the young players out there and let them run around with the lights on and the popcorn popping, and get used to a game situation,” Moore added.
“We’ve got a big opponent coming in Friday night (Villanova) and obviously, with 22 wins a year ago and being picked third in the Big East, we will have our hands full. That said, it’s also a great opportunity to come out and compete against a very good team. We’re looking forward to that.”
NC State and Villanova will officially begin the 2015-16 season on Friday at PNC Arena with tipoff set for 5 p.m.
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Duke 116, St. Leo 33
DURHAM, N.C. – The 14th-ranked Duke Blue Devils muscled past Saint Leo, scoring 76 points in the paint to top the Lions, 116-33, at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
Six Blue Devils finished the day with double-digit scoring performances, paced by guard Rebecca Greenwell who finished with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 behind the arc.
Junior Kendall Cooper and sophomore Azurá Stevens both posted double-doubles in the contest, finishing with a combined 24 points and 22 rebounds.
“I think we got a little bit better today,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said.
“This particular scrimmage afforded us the opportunity to really try to push the ball and work on our open sets in a broken play situation, and defensively we worked on some other things too.”
Following a 113-36 exhibition victory over Pfeiffer last Thursday, Duke picked up right where it left off, scoring 10 unanswered points to start Sunday’s contest.
After a Saint Leo bucket got the visiting team on the board, Duke went on to outscore the Lions 24-3 to finish the quarter with a 34-5 lead, capped off by an offensive board and putback by Cooper at the buzzer.
Cooper, Chidom and Greenwell paced the Blue Devils offensively during the first quarter, shooting a combined 10-of-11 from the field for 22 points.
The second period featured more of the same from the home team as the Blue Devils extended their advantage with a 16-0 run to start the quarter, highlighted by seven more points from Greenwell.
Duke led 63-7 at halftime.
It was a tighter contest in the second half as Saint Leo totaled 24 points during the final 20 minutes, but Duke’s 43 points over the final two quarters cemented the Blue Devils’ victory.
Duke featured a balanced scoring attack during the second half, led by rookie Faith Suggs scoring all nine of her points in the third and fourth quarters.
The Blue Devils’ defense was tenacious from beginning to end, finishing the game with 25 steals and 42 forced turnovers.
Making her first appearance in a Blue Devils uniform, freshman guard Angela Salvadores scored nine points and added five assists and three steals in her debut.
“You definitely have to be aware every time she’s on the floor,” Greenwell said of Salvadores’ playmaking abilities.
“She could throw a no-look pass and it ends up in your hands, so you have to be ready for it at all times with her.”
With the preseason completed, the Blue Devils officially kick off their 2015-16 campaign on the road, traveling to Philadelphia to take on Penn on Friday, before returning to Durham to face Winthrop in their home opener on Sunday.