Northwestern builds big lead early, holds off UNC’s women in Big Ten/ACC Challenge

It just wasn’t North Carolina’s night in the Big Ten/ACC challenge this time.

The Tar Heels came out ice cold Wednesday night while No. 15 Northwestern was sinking 3-pointers at will, and the results weren’t pretty for the home team.

Maggie Lyon had a career-high 31 points and Nia Coffey added 22 with 11 rebounds, helping the Wildcats to an 85-72 victory at Carmichael Arena.

Christen Inman added 16 points and Ashley Deary 12 points with nine rebounds for Northwestern.

“It was a great game – I think we ran out of gas a little bit at the end,” Northwestern coach Joe McKeown said. “We knew Carolina was going to make a run at some point, but other than maybe a three-minute stretch we were able to slow the game. And we took really good shots.”

Xylina McDaniel had a season-high 22 points with nine rebounds for the Tar Heels, and N’Dea Bryant added a season-high 16 points with nine rebounds.

Destinee Walker chipped in 14 points and Stephanie Watts 11.

“Northwestern is a really good team,” UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “At the beginning of the game I was wondering if they were going to miss a shot. But I was proud of the fact we came back and didn’t quit.”

The Tar Heels did have a great comeback. Northwestern’s largest lead was 28 points during the first half, but they cut it to 79-70 on Bryant’s layup with 2 minutes, 1 second left.

The Wildcats shot 47.2 percent to UNC’s 39.7, but the Tar Heels won the rebound battle 46-37. Both teams committed 18 turnovers.

Northwestern led 52-29 at halftime after shooting 53.7 percent to the Tar Heels’ 31.2. Coffey had 18 points at the break for the Wildcats.

“At the beginning I don’t think we realized how much we coul drive on them,” McDaniel said. “We figured it out a little better in the second half. I guess I used my body on them. We just realized we could drive on them a little too late, and that’s how we would have won the game.”

Notes: The Tar Heels’ next game will be at home Dec. 12 against Appalachian State. Northwestern, which had defeated East Carolina on Saturday at Texas, will host Milwaukee on Sunday.

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 9:16 PM with the headline "Northwestern builds big lead early, holds off UNC’s women in Big Ten/ACC Challenge."