Jessica Breland and the rest of the Tar Heels are ready for the NCAA tournament.
Breland, Waltiea Rolle and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt scored 13 points each, leading No. 14 North Carolina over Kennesaw State 98-52 Sunday in the regular-season finale for both teams.
''I think we were game-ready today,'' Breland said. ''I'm looking forward to us giving our all and trying to make it to the Final Four. We've just got to put our heart and pride into it and just get it done. We have the talent to do it.
Breland sat out the 2009-10 season with Hodgkins' lymphoma before coming back to start 25 games this season.
''The ACC Tournament really said it all for me, being able to play those four games and produce. I was dead-tired just like my teammates, but at this point in the season it's not about how much you have in you, but how much you're willing to give. ACC was all heart. I was hurting and my legs were gone but that drove me.''
Italee Lucas and She'la White added 12 each and all 12 players in uniform scored for UNC (26-8). Ashley Holliday had 17 for the Owls (9-21.)
This was the third straight season in which UNC played and won a regular-season home game after the ACC tournament. KSU played its first game in 11 days after losing in the Atlantic Sun Tournament.
North Carolina, runner-up in the ACC Tournament, went ahead 6-0 with the starters on the floor, then scored the next seven with a second five playing before Holliday hit a 3-pointer for KSU with 14:28 left in the half.
UNC led 52-27 at halftime. KSU was never closer than 18 in the second half.
''We didn't really want to be bullies out there,'' Lucas said. ''This game has definitely been beneficial. It helped us get out the cobwebs going into the NCAA Tournament. It feels like we just got here not too long ago. This has been a wonderful experience.''
Kennesaw State finished its second season of full Division I membership.
''We played probably about as good as we could play,'' Owls coach Colby Tilley said. ''North Carolina has such a great team, and (Hatchell) was very good to us in that she played everybody sparingly and she let them all get in the game.''
