CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP)—North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell was so mad after winless College of Charleston jumped out to an early lead on her undefeated Tar Heels, she called a timeout just so she could fume.
“I didn’t say a word to them,” Hatchell said. “But they understood. I wasn’t happy we started so lethargic.”
Fourth-ranked North Carolina promptly scored 12 straight points and never looked back in a 102-58 win Tuesday night.
Cetera DeGraffenreid finished with a game-high 19 points to lead four Tar Heels in double figures. Iman McFarland came off the bench to get 17 points and 13 rebounds. LaToya Pringle added 18 points and Rebecca had 12.
“I’ve been working hard,” McFarland said. “With Camille (Little) gone, Jessica (Breland) and I really need to step up.”
Breland had 10 rebounds to go with eight points and helped North Carolina dominate the boards 61-43.
“Even when we boxed out, they were aggressive with their size and just started jumping over us,” Charleston coach Nancy Wilson said. “It’s tough to win a jumping contest with them.”
Pringle scored 14 points in the first half to pace North Carolina to a 54-29 lead by the break. DeGraffenreid had 11 and Gray 10 by halftime. Gray hit two 3-pointers in the first half. Jill Furstenburg led College of Charleston with 13 points, while Tonia Gerty added 11.
North Carolina played the game without point guard Alex Miller, who will miss the season after undergoing knee surgery last week, and 6-1 All-American Erlana Larkins, who team officials said was resting after starting seven games in 17 days.
“We’ve got four games in a week, and the next two are really big, so we just gave her a rest,” Hatchell said. “We’re fine. The other kids really stepped up.”
The Cougars hit just 22 of 77 shots from the floor and had more turnovers (26) than baskets. After taking its early 6-4 lead, they missed 10 of their next 13 shots and committing 13 turnovers in a span of 10:19.
After North Carolina opened the second half with a 7-0 run, Charleston never again got closer than 66-35.
North Carolina was playing its eighth straight home game to start the season. The Tar Heels host Purdue on Thursday to end their homestand before heading to No. 1 Tennessee on Sunday.
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