It was 3-pointer after 3-pointer after 3-pointer. The barrage continued.
Indiana women’s basketball failed to contain No. 16 University of North Carolina from 3-point range in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game as it went 11 for 23 on long balls.
The Hoosiers fell 69-29 to the Tar Heels on Monday at Imperial Arena in Nassau, Bahamas, and dropped to 4-3 this season.
Each squad started with 5-0 runs, but the Tar Heels went on another 5-0 spurt and led 11-10 after the opening quarter. Both teams went 4 for 16 from the field in the first.
Indiana got out to a 2-point lead in the early stages of the second period before North Carolina turned it on. The Tar Heels were unconscious from 3-point range over the quarter, going 6 for 7.
While North Carolina went on a 7-0 run just before halftime, Indiana sophomore guard Julianna LaMendola drained a 3-pointer as time expired to cut the Hoosiers’ deficit to 32-26 at the break.
Out of the locker room, the Tar Heels immediately seized control. They opened the quarter on a 13-2 run headlined with a pair of long balls. Indiana’s offense failed to get much of anything going with North Carolina’s defense forcing six turnovers as the former went 3 for 9 from the field and scored just 7 points in the quarter.
With three seconds left in the third, North Carolina junior guard Trayanna Crisp drained her fifth 3-pointer to give her squad a 21-point advantage with 10 minutes remaining.
With the game effectively out of hand, the Tar Heels continued their domination. The Hoosiers scored just 6 points in the final quarter, falling by 30 points. The Cream and Crimson shot just 29.1% from the field and 15.4% from beyond the arc.
North Carolina junior guard Indya Nivar and Crisp, who sank five 3-pointers, led all scorers with 15 points apiece. Junior guard Yarden Garzon, the only Hoosier to reach double figures, scored just 10 points alongside five rebounds.
Sophomore guard Julianna LaMendola, who made the first start of her career in place of injured graduate student guard Sydney Parrish, notched 6 points and 11 rebounds.
The Hoosiers return to Bloomington to take on the University of Maine at 2 p.m. Dec. 1 inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The contest will stream on Big Ten+.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
