NORTH CAROLINA (Nov. 27)
After losing to VCU 47 – 61, the Washington Huskies’ fifth game of the regular season will come against North Carolina on Saturday, November 27th (9am) in the Bahamas.
Now for the bad news, on Friday, the still undefeated (5-0) UNC Tar Heels women beat VCU 72-59.
Led by coach Courtney Banghart in her third season, the Tar Heels finished last season with a 13-11 record overall; and eighth in the ACC.
North Carolina is averaging 84.2 points per game (12th nationally) versus 57.3 ppg by the Huskies.
Huskies’ opponents are averaging 59.3 points a game (94th nationally); while North Carolina is limiting opponents to 45.8 points per game — 5th best in the nation.
Players to Watch
Sophomore 6″1″ wing #1 Alyssa Ustby had a team-leading 23 points against VCU, along with ten (10) rebounds — her third double-double of the season.
Expect an interesting matchup between North Carolina’s Ustby and Washington’s 6’1″ Haley Van Dyke. Van Dyke has two double-double performances this season.
Starting sophomore guard Deja Kelly scored 15 points against VCU — she is averaging 16.8 points per game, while shooting 42% from three-point range.
Meanwhile, guard #10 Eva Hodgson came off the North Carolina bench to score 14 points on 50% shooting overall — and is averaging 10.2 points per game.
Other Tar Heels players the Huskies will need to account for on Saturday:
Princeton graduate transfer guard #2 Carlie Littlefield is averaging 10.8 point per game and leads the team in assists;
6’2″ Anya Poole (#31) is the team’s leading shot-blocker with seven total and is averaging 8.6 points per game;
and sophomore guard #3 Kennedy Todd-Williams is averaging 7.8 rebounds per game this season.
North Carolina’s recruiting class for 2021 was ranked third nationally, with four recruits ranked inside the Top 20: 6’3″ freshman Destiny Adams has played in all five games this season; 6″0″ Morasha Wiggins has played in four of five games; Teonni Keya was ranked ninth in the ESPNW class of 2021 rankings but is out with injuries; and 5’7″ Kayla McPherson has yet to play.
PREDICTION
The Huskies are facing a tough matchup in the undefeated Tar Heels.
Washington is averaging 25.3 turnovers a game (345th in the nation); meanwhile, the Tar Heels only commit 14.4 turnovers per game (66th nationally).
In addition, North Carolina averages 10.6 steals per game (45th nationally); meanwhile, the Huskies are only averaging 8.8 steals (116th in the nation).
To be blunt, the Dawgs will have to win the turnover battle to secure an upset victory over North Carolina.
Nothing else really matters at this point.
