Smith Dunks Belief That Women Can’t

Charlotte Smith of North Carolina became the first woman in 10 years to dunk a basketball during a game Sunday, making a one-handed jam during a rout of North Carolina A&T.;

The six-foot senior intercepted a pass by Samara Dobbins and went in uncontested. Her right wrist cleared the rim and Smith pushed the ball through the basket only 17 seconds into the game.

“The pass was just there, and the whole time I was going out, I was focusing on dunking and just getting it over with,” Smith said after scoring 22 points for the fifth-ranked Tar Heels in a 113-58 victory. “I don’t know exactly what happened as far as gripping it. It wasn’t the most convincing dunk that I’ve done, but, hey.”

The last woman to dunk during a game was Georgeann Wells, who had two dunks while playing for West Virginia in 1984.