By R.L. Bynum

After North Carolina’s women’s basketball team survived an upset bid against the toughest of the Tar Heels’ first four non-conference games, they play the weakest of those opponents on Wednesday.

The energy will be high for the 11 a.m. Wednesday matchup against Hampton (ESPN3), with about 1,500 elementary and middle school kids filling most of the lower-arena seats at Carmichael Arena on Field Trip Day.

Those students get a break from school to watch the Tar Heels (2–0) against the Pirates, who have a 291 Massey Ratings rank and lost their only game this season at Providence last Tuesday 76–46.

UNC comes off a tough 74–70 home victory Sunday over Davidson (2–1), which had defeated Wake Forest the day before.

The banged-up Tar Heels have only had 10 available scholarship players for the first two games. Redshirt sophomore center Teonni Key missed both games with a foot-related injury. Redshirt sophomore guard Kayla McPherson (lower-body injury) played seven minutes against Davidson after missing the opener, but senior center Anya Poole missed the Davidson game (lower-body injury).

“She’s getting her way back,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said of McPherson, adding that she’s not the only player on her roster who is on minutes restrictions. “She practices more than she plays in games right now [and we’re trying to] make sure she’s got her wind back and that she knows what’s going on.”

Poole’s absence forced adjustments for Banghart, including playing senior wing Alyssa Ustby at the five spot and sophomore Stanford transfer guard Indya Nivar at the four for more than 10 minutes. After not doing that in practice, Nivar also had to play the bottom of the Heels’ zone and at the back of their press. Banghart needed junior Iowa State transfer guard Lexi Donarski to help out on the boards.

Banghart said the team is “getting healthy pretty quick,” and she hopes Ustby doesn’t spend much more time at the five.

“Those little nicks that happen, they do make you adjust,” Banghart said. “We had to adjust on the fly.”

Hampton, an HBCU that was a longtime member of the MEAC before playing four seasons in the Big South, is in its second season in the CAA after going 12–18 last season, when they lost at South Carolina 85–38.

The Pirates finished ninth in the 13-team league last season and are picked 13th this season with 14 teams now in the CAA. Elon (1–1), which visits No. 14 N.C. State at 7 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN3) and UNC at 3 p.m. Saturday (ESPN3), is picked to finish 10th.

Hampton senior 6–0 guard Camryn Hill, a former Oral Roberts player, is one of only six players back from last season. She is the only returning starter and leading returning scorer after averaging 10.5 points and shooting 33.8% from 3-point range.

Hill scored 22 points against Providence, and another returnee, 5–9 junior guard Amyah Reaves, had 15 points and six rebounds.

NOTES — On Wednesday, Ustby and Deja Kelly were named to the watch lists for the Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy. … Hampton has pulled off two basketball upsets in Chapel Hill, both in openers of losing Carolina seasons. The Pirates’ men’s team won 77–69 at the Smith Center on Nov. 16, 2001, to start UNC’s infamous 8–20 season. The Hampton women’s team won 70–66 on Nov. 10, 2017, in Carmichael Arena to start UNC’s 15–16 season, the Tar Heels’ last losing season. … In the only other women’s basketball meeting, Carolina won 93–50 on New Year’s Eve in 1998. … Junior Boston College transfer center Maria Gakdeng leads the ACC in field-goal percentage at 78.6%, well ahead of Clemson’s Amari Robinson (72.2%). … With Oklahoma and N.C. State debuting in the AP Top 25, Carolina now has 10 games on its schedule against teams currently ranked — No. 1 South Carolina, No. 8 UConn, No. 9 Virginia Tech (two games), No. 12 Florida State, No. 14 N.C. State (two games), No. 16 Notre Dame, No. 19 Louisville and No. 25 Oklahoma — and could possibly play an 11th in No. 2 Iowa on the third day of the Gulf Coast Shootout. …. In ACC rebounding statistics, Ustby is tied for fourth (10.5 per game) and Nivar is tied for 11th (6.5). … Senior guard Deja Kelly leads the team in scoring at 16.0 per game (15th in the league) and assists at 5.0 per game (tied for seventh in the ACC). … Nivar leads the team in free-throw percentage and is tied for 10th in the league at 87.5%. … Ustby leads the team in steals and is tied for fourth in the league at three per game. … Donarski leads the team in 3-pointers with seven (fourth in the league) and in 3-point shooting percentage at 46.7% (eighth in the league). Sophomore guard Paulina Paris has made 45.5% of her 3-pointers and has five 3s (both 10th in the league). … Carolina is second in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.67 (35 assists, 20 turnovers). Paris leads the team and is third in the ACC in that category at 7.0 (seven assists, 1 turnover), Deja Kelly is fifth in the league at 5.0 (10 assists, 2 turnovers) and Ustby is sixth at 4.5 (nine assists, 2 turnovers). … Carolina is tied for third in the league in offensive rebounds per game (18.5), turnover margin (+12) and assists per game (tied with 17.5). … UNC is tied for second in the ACC in scoring at 88 per game.

UNC season statistics

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	4 p.m.	vs. No. 22 Louisville	ACCN
17	Wednesday	8 p.m.	vs. UNCW	ACCN
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	Noon	vs. Stanford	ESPN or ACCN
11	Sunday	1 p.m.	at No. 19 Notre Dame	ESPN
15	Thursday	TBA	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	TBA	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