By Bob Sutton

CHAPEL HILL — If this is what’s referred to as a tune-up, the North Carolina women’s basketball team is well-oiled for what’s to come.

The No. 19 Tar Heels operated in good order in their final non-conference game, blasting visiting Norfolk State 90–47 on Saturday afternoon at Carmichael Arena.

“It’s exactly what we wanted to do,” freshman guard Lanie Grant said. “We wanted to go out on a good win just so we could come back with some momentum, and we did that, and we’re going to keep capitalizing.”

Grant racked up 15 points off the bench, and Grace Townsend had 14 points. Lexi Donarski and Maria Gakdeng each scored 11 points, and Alyssa Ustby and reserve Ciera Tommey finished with 10 points apiece. For the most part, starters had the fourth quarter off.

Next for the Tar Heels (12–2) is a stretch of 17 consecutive ACC games, beginning Dec. 29 at Miami before three consecutive home games.

A team spokeswoman said that Tar Heels coach Courtney Banghart didn’t attend the media session as she had a flight to catch.

It turned into a nice shooting demonstration for the Tar Heels, with six players connecting on at least one 3-pointer. North Carolina was 14-for-31 on 3s despite missing its final three attempts. Grant hit four 3s.

“In these type of games, given the score what it was, I think we were able to focus on playing with one another, getting each other the best shot, even when they went zone,” Townsend said. “The way we were able to share the ball, we shot the ball extremely well. That was the big thing for us.”

Diamond Johnson’s 19 points paced Norfolk State (11–4), the two-time reigning MEAC champion.

North Carolina led 49–19 at halftime, with the Tar Heels shooting 50% the Spartans at 20% from the floor.

It took Norfolk State almost six minutes into the second half before scoring.

“It’s a testament to this team, we take a lot of pride in our defense,” Townsend said. “Even if our shots aren’t going in, we try to get stops every possession. I think a big key for this game, keeping them out [of the lane] — they were able to get into the paint on a lot of teams – so I think that’s just a testament to our defense.”

The Tar Heels had five reserves on the court to begin the fourth quarter.

Donarski went 3-for-3 on 3-pointers in the first six minutes as the Tar Heels built a 20-6 lead. The team’s other three first-half 3-pointers came with one apiece from Grant, Laila Hull and Trayanna Crisp.

Ustby had 11 of North Carolina’s 41 rebounds, and Towsend topped the assists chart with five.

Johnson, a former N.C. State guard, notched all except four of her points in the second half. The Spartans were 3-for-23 on 3-pointers in the game.

It was an abbreviated postgame session with media as team members were eager to depart on a holiday break.

NOTES — It was the first meeting between the programs. … Four of North Carolina’s victories this season have come against HBCUs (also N.C. A&T, N.C. Central and Coppin State are the others). … The Spartans lost for the second time against a nationally ranked opponent, falling at Alabama last month. … Announced attendance was a season-low for a home game at 2,211.

Bob Sutton is a veteran ACC sports writer who is the former North Carolina Sportswriter of the Year and was the sports editor of the Burlington Times-News for 25 years.

No. 19 UNC 90, Norfolk State 47

Team	League	Overall	NET*
No. 16 Louisville	2–0	12–3	14
N.C. State	2–0	8–4	28
Syracuse	1–0	11–1	41
Stanford	1–0	10–2	33
No. 20 Notre Dame	1–0	8–2	19
Virginia	1–0	9–3	30
Duke	1–0	6–6	32
Wake Forest	1–1	10–3	122
Virginia Tech	1–1	9–3	53
Clemson	1–1	8–4	47
Miami	1–1	7–4	48
No. 18 North Carolina	0–1	10–3	16
California	0–1	8–4	69
Pittsburgh	0–1	7–6	2270
SMU	0–1	6–6	155
Boston College	0–1	4–10	207
Florida State	0–2	5–9	127
Georgia Tech	0–2	4–9	128

* — Through Thursday games
Thursday’s results
Virginia Tech 79, Florida State 54
Miami 64, Wake Forest 61
Pittsburgh 98, Saint Francis 46
N.C. State 87, Georgia Tech 58
Duke 97, South Dakota State 54
Friday’s games
Syracuse 106, Mercyhurst 40
Northeastern 73, Boston College 67
SMU 73, Sam Houston 69
Stanford 67, No. 22 Washington 62
Saturday’s games
No. 16 Louisville 89, No. 17 Tennessee 65
Virginia 88, Winthrop 53
Florida State 77, South Carolina State 36
Duke 76, Belmont 46
Sunday’s games
Charleston Southern at No. 18 North Carolina, noon, ACC Network
Radford at Virginia Tech, noon, ACCN Extra
Kennesaw State at Miami, noon, ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Davidson, noon, CBS Sports Network
Pittsburgh at Duquesne, 1 p.m., ESPN+
North Florida at Clemson, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Bellarmine at No. 20 Notre Dame, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Southern at SMU, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Oregon vs. Stanford in San Francisco, 6 p.m., ESPN
No. 19 USC vs. California in San Francisco, 8:30, ESPN
Monday’s game
Gardner-Webb at Wake Forest, 1 p.m., ACCN Extra

Date	Day/month	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
30	Thursday	L, 91–82	No. 3 South Carolina in Atlanta	Exhib.
	November
3	Monday	W, 90–42	vs. N.C. Central	1–0
6	Thursday	W, 71–37	vs. Elon	2–0
			WBCA Challenge Las Vegas
13	Thursday	L, 78–60	vs. No. 4 UCLA	2–1
15	Saturday	W, 82–68	vs. Fairfield	3–1
			———————————
20	Thursday	W, 85–50	at N.C. A&T	4–1
23	Sunday	W, 94–48	vs. UNCG	5–1
			Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico
27	Thursday	W, 83–48	vs. South Dakota St.	6–1
28	Friday	W, 85–73	vs. Kansas State	7–1
29	Saturday	W, 80–63	vs. Columbia	8–1
	December		ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge
4	Thursday	W, 79–64	at No. 2 Texas	8–2
			———————————
7	Sunday	W, 82–40	vs. Boston Univ.	9–2
14	Sunday	L, 76–66, OT	vs. No. 16 Louisville	9–3, 0–1 ACC
17	Wednesday	W, 84–34	vs. UNCW	10–3
21	Sunday	Noon	vs. Charleston Southern	ACCN Extra
29	Monday	8 p.m.	at Boston College	ACCN
	January
1	Thursday	Noon	vs. California	ACCN
4	Sunday	1 p.m.	vs. Stanford	ESPN
11	Sunday	1 p.m.	at No. 20 Notre Dame	ESPN
15	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. Miami	ACCN Extra
18	Sunday	2 p.m.	at Florida State	The CW
22	Thursday	8 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
25	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	The CW
	February
2	Monday	6 p.m.	at N.C. State	ESPN2
5	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. Clemson	ACCN
8	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
12	Thursday	6 p.m.	vs. SMU	ACCN
15	Sunday	1 p.m.	at Duke	ABC
19	Thursday	6 p.m.	at Virginia Tech	ACCN
22	Sunday	Noon	vs. Pittsburgh	ACCN
26	Thursday	7 p.m.	at Virginia	ACCN Extra
	March
1	Sunday	Noon	vs. Duke	ESPN
			ACC tournament
4–8	Wed.-Sun		Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga.
			NCAA tournament
20–24	Fri.-Mon.		First, second rounds
27–30	Fri.-Mon.		Regionals Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif.
	April
3, 5	Fri., Sun		Final Four Phoenix