Stanford Cardinal at North Carolina Tar Heels

No. 11 UNC hands No. 5 Stanford second loss of season

Latifah Coleman scored a career-high 19 points and Xylina McDaniel added 15 to help No. 11 North Carolina upset fifth-ranked Stanford 70-54 in an opening-round game of the Rainbow Wahine Shootout.

Stephanie Mavunga added 10 and eight rebounds for the Tar Heels (5-0), who avenged a nine-point loss to the Cardinal (3-2) in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament this past April.

Coleman, a senior guard, also had six rebounds and six assists. She made seven of her 12 shots from the field, including going 4-for-6 on 3-pointers, and scored 14 of her points in the second half.

"We worked hard for this and this was a much-anticipated matchup, so this feels good," Coleman said. "That game from last year kept coming up, and it's just sweet because we came out here, stuck to our game plan, we did what our coaches told us to do and it just felt better in the end to win."

McDaniel made six of her 10 shots from the field, including going 3-for-7 on 3-point attempts.

"(Mavunga) was tough inside, but (the posts) couldn't get everything off inside quite like they've been, so Xylina stepped back and started making 3s. She's really become a much more versatile player, and that's really, really helped," Hatchell said.

North Carolina shot 61 percent (17-of-28) from the field in the second half.

Lili Thompson scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half to lead Stanford, which shot just 31 percent (17-of-55) from the field for the game.

Stanford was held well below its 83.8 scoring average.

Both teams struggled shooting the ball in the first half. Stanford made just six of its 30 shots (20 percent) from the field, while North Carolina shot 9-of-36 (25 percent), including 4-of-17 on 3-pointers.

"I wanted to keep their confidence up," Hatchell said. "I told them (at halftime) that they had some great shots and that they'll start falling in the second half, but let's look inside, and the sets that we ran in the second half, all those sets have a look inside first, and then if we don't have that, then we have outside options."

TIP-INS

Stanford: Thompson entered the game averaging 26 points, which ranks her ninth nationally, but she missed her first nine shots from the field. It wasn't until the 3:41 mark in the first half that she scored her first points on a pair of free throws.

North Carolina: Mavunga and Gray each grabbed eight rebounds to help the Tar Heels outrebound the Cardinal 47-32, including an 18-12 edge in offensive boards.

RANK AND FILE

It was the third game against a ranked opponent in the past four games for both teams. Stanford beat then-No. 1 Connecticut 88-86 in overtime Nov. 17 but lost to No. 10 Texas 87-71 three days later. North Carolina beat 23rd-ranked UCLA 84-68 on Nov. 19 and followed that up with a 79-77 win over Oklahoma State three days later. "We're the only team in the county that is 5-0 and has beaten three ranked teams," Hatchell said.

RETURN TRIP

Stanford returned to Honolulu for the first time since 2012, when it played in the Rainbow Wahine Classic. The highlight of that trip was a 71-69 win over then-No. 1 Baylor, which snapped the Bears' 42-game winning streak.

A FIRST FOR EVERYTHING

North Carolina notched its first win over Stanford in program history. The Tar Heels were 0-3 against the Cardinal all-time.

UP NEXT

Stanford takes on tournament host Hawaii on Saturday.

North Carolina plays Prairie View A&M on Saturday.

How can I watch Cardinal vs. Tar Heels?

• TV Channel: Cardinal vs Tar Heels 2021 College Basketball, week 3, is broadcasted on .
• Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Location: Honolulu, HI
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