CHAPEL HILL, N.C.-  Alisha Nelson came off the bench to grab a team high 9 rebounds as 24th ranked North Carolina defeated Savannah State 74-21 in Carmichael Arena.

The crowd of 2,489 saw SSU's record fall to 5-8 while the Tar Heels improved to 9-2.

Ezinne Kalu, the Lady Tigers leading scorer did not play in the second period after suffering a shoulder injury in the first half.

A jumper by Jasmine Kirkland cut SSU's deficit to 7-4 in the opening minutes of the contest but UNC answered with a 22-5 run that gave them a 29-9 lead with 3:13 left before the half.

UNC led 34-13 at the break.

The Tar Heels started the second half with 12 unanswered points to expand their lead to 46-13 with 14:37 on the clock.

Savannah State's first score of the second half came at the 12:07 mark when Kirkland made a jumper.

After a jumper by SSU's Fila Smith, UNC responded with a 17-0 run to go ahead 65-17 with 5:45 remaining.

Kirkland led SSU with 8 points while Blessing Uba had 4 steals.

Brittany Roundtree had 15 points for the Tar Heels.

SSU made26 turnovers while shooting 17.6 percent from the floor.

North Carolina was also cold, shooting 39.1 percent but out-rebounded SSU 59 to 31.