By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — On the 30th anniversary season of North Carolina’s only women’s basketball national championship, the latest edition of the Tar Heels showed why they are a contender to earn a second one.
It’s hard to gauge against overmatched, undersized and rebuilding Gardner-Webb, but the No. 16 Tar Heels showed their depth, quickness and talent in a 102–49 opening-game romp Wednesday at Carmichael Arena.
“I’m just glad to be able to show the team that we’ve been trying to be over the last five months,” said Banghart, who has seven returnees and eight newcomers. “You could see that there’s a lot to be excited about here. And I’m glad to finally be able to share with you guys.”
Carolina showed that it will be disruptive on the defensive end, producing 44 points and 21 fast-break points off 33 turnovers, with as many steals (15) as Gardner-Webb’s had field goals. The Tar Heels coasted behind runs of 13–0 in the first half and 33–4 in their 40-point third quarter.
Banghart said that torrid defense was no surprise to her given that her three transfers — sophomore guard Indya Nivar from Stanford, junior guard Lexi Donarski from Iowa State and junior center Maria Gakdeng from Boston College — all are forces on that end of the floor.
“These are people who care about that end, and so I knew we’d be better defensively,” Banghart said.
Senior wing Alyssa Ustby who, of course, had another double-double (12 points and a team-leading 12 rebounds), the 23rd of her career, led the way with four steals but said that the team’s collective defensive intensity has been great.
“That’s one thing that we’ve emphasized going into the season,” said Ustby, who also had a team-high six assists. “We have so many girls all the way down the roster that have committed to be really aggressive on defense. Our offense starts on defense, generating turnovers, pushing the ball and the transition. Having that as a staple for us has been really helpful.”
Nivar came off the bench to lead six players scoring in double figures with a career-high 17 points, three coming on a first-quarter buzzer-beater from eight feet behind half-court. She added a career-high 11 rebounds for her first college double-double.
“Never did that in a basketball game before, so it was pretty exciting. It was awesome,” said Nivar, who remembers hitting a shot from half-court during shootaround before UNC’s closed scrimmage against No. 4 UCLA. The shot was No. 5 in the ESPN “SportsCenter” Top 10 Plays segment.
Being back near her Apex home after a frustrating freshman season at Stanford, Nivar looked comfortable and confident in her Carolina debut.
“I’m happy that I’m here,” said Nivar, who knew fellow transfer Harrison Ingram when he was also at Stanford. “I just knew I needed to grow as a player. And that was my goal when I came here. I wanted it to grow; I wanted to reach my goals. The coaches, my teammates have supported me.”
Sophomore guard Paulina Paris pitched in 15 points and five asssists, with senior guard Deja Kelly and Donarski scoring 14 and Gakdeng adding 13.
But the best all-around game was from Ustby.
“My game doesn’t succeed if I don’t have great players around me; they make it so easy,” an always modest Ustby said. “I’m looking at six assists. I had six teammates who knocked down great shots. And so it’s less about how I played but how collectively we were efficient.”
The Tar Heels got 45 bench points despite having only 10 available scholarship players, with redshirt sophomores Teonni Key (who had a walking boot on her left foot) and Kayla McPherson not playing. Banghart said both are considered day-to-day with lower body injuries.
Their absences impacted who started for Banghart, who said that the lineup could fluctuate from game to game. Since Banghart wanted the first guards off the bench to be players who had experience at UNC, freshman Reniya Kelly started.
Coming off a spectacular high school career that produced four Mississippi state titles, Kelly, the state player of the year last season, was one of three guards who started. She finished with four points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Also starting were Deja Kelly, Donarski, Ustby and Gakdeng.
UNC has plenty of talented 3-point shooters but struggled from outside the arc in the first half (4 of 23). Donarski changed that with four third-quarter 3-pointers as the Heels went 6 of 9 in the third quarter, including a 3 from center Alexandra Zelaya.
“This is a team that, because of our depth, we can play a lot of different ways,” said Banghart, pointing out the mid-range accuracy of Deja Kelly, Ustby and Nivar, adding that she was surprised that her team only shot 27% from 3-point range. “We came out of halftime, and we’re just hammering inside. Then, they had to make some choices on who they were going to go to.”
Carolina missed its first eight 3-point attempts before back-to-back 3s from Paris and Deja Kelly pushed UNC’s lead to 18–9 with 2:56 left in the first quarter. Nivar’s amazing shot came in the middle that big first-half run and shoved the lead to 20. UNC led by as many as 24 before taking a 45–26 halftime lead, had an 85–37 edge after three quarters and pushed the lead to 54 late in the game.
Gardner-Webb guard Ashley Hawkins had an unfortunate double-double with 14 points and 10 turnovers and was -48. That’s equal to UNC’s turnover total as a team. Micahla Funderburk led the Bulldogs, tying her career-high with 16 points.
“That was a very tough opponent for our first game, and UNC did an excellent job on both ends of the floor,” first-year G-W coach Scott Merritt said.
NOTES — It was UNC’s first game with at least 100 points since a 107–46 win over UNC Asheville on Dec. 12, 2021. … It was the second consecutive game that Gardner-Webb has given up at least 100 points; it lost 103–77 to Utah in the first round of last season’s NCAA tournament. … The 49 points were the fewest by Gardner-Webb since losing at Georgia 97–45 on Nov. 11, 2021. … Before the game, UNC honored Ustby with a ball commemorating her becoming the 40th player in program history to score 1,000th career points. She reached that mark during the Tar Heels’ first-round win over St. John’s in last season’s NCAA tournament. … UNC outrebounded G-W 52–33 and had a 44–18 advantage on inside points. … Twenty-two of UNC’s 37 field goals were assisted. … Carolina plays the second of four home non-conference games to start the season Sunday at 6 p.m. against Davidson (ACC Network). The Wildcats, who went 14–16 last season and opened with an 86–51 home victory over USC Upstate, play Wake Forest at home at 1 p.m. Saturday. Davidson, picked to finish seventh in the 15-team Atlantic 10, has the highest Massey Rating of UNC’s first four opponents at 138. … UNC leads the series with Gardner-Webb 4–1. … Merritt played with Dwyane Wade on Marquette’s 2002–03 Final Four team. … UNC field hockey coach Erin Matson watched the game from behind the south baseline. … RJ Davis, Zayden High, Harrison Ingram and Jalen Washington were among the UNC men’s players at the game.
No. 16 UNC 102, Gardner-Webb 49
| Date | Day/month | Score | Opponent/event (current rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November | ||||
| 8 | Wednesday | W, 102–49 | vs. Gardner-Webb | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 74–70 | vs. Davidson | 2–0 |
| 15 | Wednesday | W, 62–32 | vs. Hampton | 3–0 |
| 18 | Saturday | W, 68–39 | vs. Elon | 4–0 |
| Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla. | ||||
| 24 | Friday | W, 54–51 | Vermont | 5–0 |
| 25 | Saturday | L, 63–56 | No. 15 Kansas State | 5–1 |
| 26 | Sunday | L, 65–64 | Florida Gulf Coast | 5–2 |
| ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 65–58 | vs. No. 1 South Carolina | 5–3 |
| December | ||||
| 6 | Wednesday | W, 81–66 | vs. UNC Greensboro | 6–3 |
| Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase in Uncasville, Conn. | ||||
| 10 | Sunday | L, 76–64 | No. 10 Connecticut | 6–4 |
| ——————— | ||||
| 15 | Friday | W, 96–36 | vs. Western Carolina | 7–4 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 19 | Tuesday | W, 61–52 | No. 18 Oklahoma | 8–4 |
| ACC season | ||||
| 31 | Sunday | W, 82–76 | vs. Clemson | 9–4, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 4 | Thursday | W, 75–51 | vs. No. 22 Syracuse | 10–4, 2–0 ACC |
| 7 | Sunday | W, 61–57 | at No. 9 Notre Dame | 11–4, 3–0 ACC |
| 11 | Thursday | L, 70–62 | at Florida State | 11–5, 3–1 ACC |
| 14 | Sunday | W, 81–68 | vs. Virginia | 12–5, 4–1 ACC |
| 18 | Thursday | W, 73–68 | at Georgia Tech | 13–5, 5–1 ACC |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 79–68 | vs. No. 23 Louisville | 14–5, 6–1 ACC |
| 25 | Thursday | W, 66–61 | vs. Miami | 15–5, 7–1 ACC |
| 28 | Sunday | L, 81–66 | at Virginia | 15–6, 7–2 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | L, 63–59 | at No. 11 N.C. State | 15–7, 7–3 ACC |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 70–61, OT | vs. No. 13 Virginia Tech | 15–8, 7–4 ACC |
| 11 | Sunday | L, 68–60, OT | at Duke | 15–9, 7–5 ACC |
| 15 | Thursday | W, 75–62 | vs. Pittsburgh | 16–9, 8–5 ACC |
| 18 | Sunday | W, 58–50 | at Wake Forest | 17–9, 9–5 ACC |
| 22 | Thursday | W, 80–70 | vs. No. 11 N.C. State | 18–9, 10–5 ACC |
| 25 | Sunday | L, 74–62 | at No. 13 Virginia Tech | 18–10, 10–6 ACC |
| 29 | Thursday | L, 78–74 | at Boston College | 18–11, 10–7 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | W, 63–59 | vs. Duke | 19–11, 11–7 ACC |
| ACC tournament Greensboro Coliseum | ||||
| 7 | Thursday | L, 60–59 | Second round: vs. Miami | 19–12 |
| NCAA tournament Columbia, S.C. | ||||
| 22 | Friday | W, 59–56 | First round: Michigan State | 20–12 |
| 24 | Sunday | L, 88–41 | Second round: No. 1 South Carolina | 20–13 |
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
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