Thirty Assists on 40 Baskets: No. 23 North Carolina Beats NC Central 109-40

Photo: Carolina Athletics. Nyla Brooks, official roster headshot. Card design: The Dyme.

No. 23 North Carolina assisted on 30 of its 40 field goals and beat NC Central 109-40 on Wednesday at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, N.C., per the ESPN box score. NC Central had three assists. Nyla Brooks led the Tar Heels with 17 points on 5-of-10 from three in 20 minutes. Attendance was 1,969. The game streamed on ACC Network Extra. North Carolina moved to 1-2 (1-0 at home), per ESPN. NC Central fell to 2-3 (0-3 on the road).

Achol Akot had 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting with seven assists and six rebounds. Kate Harpring scored 16 on 7-of-13 with five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Gabby White and Reniya Kelly added five and four assists. Four Tar Heels finished with four or more assists, by our count from the ESPN player box.

18 threes and a four-point second quarter

North Carolina made 18 of 39 threes (46%), per ESPN. NC Central made two of 12. Brooks made five, Laila Hull and Sophie Burrows three each, and Harpring and Kelly two each. Hull scored 13 off the bench on 5-of-9 shooting. Blanca Thomas had 12 points and seven rebounds on 4-of-5.

NC Central scored four points in the second quarter, per the ESPN linescores. North Carolina led 27-11 late in the first quarter. From a basket at 0:15 of the first through 6:56 of the second, the Tar Heels scored 13 straight to make it 40-11, by our count from the play-by-play. The halftime score was 54-15.

Kelly's three off an Akot assist at 9:31 of the third made it 57-15, the first 40-point margin, by our count. Kelly's three, again from Akot, at 4:43 of the third made it 72-22. Hull's layup with 48 seconds left made it 109-40. That 69-point margin matched ESPN's listed largest lead and stood as the final margin.

The turnover line

NC Central committed 20 turnovers. North Carolina committed five. The Tar Heels scored 30 points off turnovers to NC Central's two and 22 fast-break points to none, per ESPN. Steals went 13-3. Rebounds went 45-21, including 18-6 on the offensive glass.

North Carolina shot 40-of-72 (56%) and 11-of-16 at the line (69%). NC Central shot 15-of-50 (30%) and 8-of-10 at the line (80%). NC Central led 3-0 early, its largest lead, and led for 4% of the game, per ESPN.

Shrouq Amer led NC Central with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 4-of-4 at the line in 31 minutes. Victoria Morris scored nine. Eboni Clay scored seven on 3-of-12. Morris and Clay committed five turnovers each.

Twelve of the 13 Tar Heels who played scored, by our count. Five reached double figures.

The box score, side by side

Full-game team numbers, per the ESPN box and checked against the CBS Sports gametracker box:

Category	North Carolina	NC Central
Field goals	40-72 (56%)	15-50 (30%)
3-pointers	18-39 (46%)	2-12 (17%)
Free throws	11-16 (69%)	8-10 (80%)
Rebounds	45	21
Offensive rebounds	18	6
Assists	30	3
Turnovers	5	20
Steals	13	3
Blocks	4	1
Points in the paint	38	18
Points off turnovers	30	2
Fast-break points	22	0
Largest lead	69	3

Quarter scoring, per the ESPN linescores:

Quarter	North Carolina	NC Central
1	30	11
2	24	4
3	31	16
4	24	9
Final	109	40

North Carolina held the No. 23 spot in the Associated Press women's Top 25, per the NCAA.com AP poll and ESPN's game ranking. NC Central was unranked.

Next on the schedule

North Carolina plays at Penn at The Palestra on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 4 p.m. ET, per the ESPN team schedule.

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Sources:

• ESPN: NC Central vs. North Carolina box score
• ESPN: NC Central vs. North Carolina play-by-play
• CBS Sports: NC Central at North Carolina gametracker box score
• NCAA.com: AP Top 25 women's basketball poll
• North Carolina Athletics: women's basketball schedule