By R.L. Bynum
As expected, the No. 18 Carolina women swept their four non-conference home games to start the season, but it didn’t always go smoothly for the Tar Heels.
In blowout wins over Gardner-Webb (102–49), Hampton (62–32) and Elon (68–39) and a 74–70 victory over Davidson, the Tar Heels (4–0) haven’t shot as well as expected. Freshmen Ciera Toomey and Laila Hull are redshirting while recovering from offseason surgeries and Coach Courtney Banghart hasn’t had all 12 of the other scholarship players in uniform for any game this season.
Having UNC at full strength will be helpful this week when Carolina plays three games in as many days in Estero, Fla., at the Gulf Coast Showcase. The Tar Heels play in the first round at 1:30 Friday afternoon (streaming on subscription site FloHoops) against Vermont (3–1). On Saturday, they meet No. 16 Kansas State (4–0) or Western Kentucky (4–1) and could face No. 5 Iowa (4–1) on Sunday.
With plenty of dangerous perimeter shooters, Carolina has made only 30.1% of its 3-point attempts (ninth in the ACC). After junior Iowa State transfer Lexi Donarski (38.5%), Kayla McPherson (37.5%) and Paulina Paris (37.5%), the rest of the team is only shooting 20.9% from outside the arc.
Carolina is getting good shots but, too many times so far, they aren’t falling.
“I think we left too many points on the board,” Banghart said after Saturday’s win over Elon. “Our job is to get good scoring opportunities. I feel like we’re doing that. It comes down to it making 3s and finishing around the rim. It’s not a group that doesn’t work on it, that’s for sure. This group maybe is in the gym too much, actually. But things even out; usually math evens out over time. So our makes are coming.”
Alyssa Ustby is averaging 11.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals. She is shooting well within the arc at 47.5%, but that’s still down slightly from 53.0% last season.
She also expects the shots for the entire team to start falling.
“We’re missing shots that we’ve probably made over 100 of this past week,” Ustby said after the Elon game. “We’re just constantly encouraging each other because we’ve seen each other make these shots. [There’s] growth that I’ve seen in this team that I really like because, as we move on in the season, we’re going to face more adversity and more challenges. I like the concept of us leaning on each other versus kind of just getting down on ourselves.”
The first bit of adversity was that narrow win over Davidson (5–1), but may ultimately be seen as a good win, considering the Wildcats beat Wake Forest at home the day before. The Wildcats have rebounded with three consecutive wins, including winning at Duke 69–62 on Nov. 16.
How big the rotation will be for UNC’s three games in Florida will depend on who is available. That group hasn’t yet included redshirt sophomore forward Teonni Key (left foot injury), and senior center Anya Poole has missed the last three games.
Redshirt sophomore guard Kayla McPherson has played the last three games after recovering enough from a lower-body injury, but has averaged only 11.3 minutes and will still be on minutes restrictions this weekend.
Freshman Reniya Kelly started at one of the guard spots for the first three games but redshirt sophomore Paulina Paris got the start next to senior guard Deja Kelly against Elon. Deja Kelly leads the team in scoring at 14.3 points per game.
“Our lineup is so fluid, it’s fascinating,” Banghart said, who played seven players for more than 20 minutes against Elon. “Paulina has a ton of experience. I love having experience off the bench, and I think being the sixth is a pretty heralded role, a pretty special role. Our lineup will probably remain fluid, especially as we figure out who’s healthy when and what other teams require.”
Vermont went 25–7 last season, shared the regular-season America East Conference title with a 14–2 record, then won the league tournament as Alisa Kresge earned league coach of the year honors. The Catamounts, who lost 95–52 to UConn in the first round of the NCAA tournament, are the favorite to win the league this season.
Two Catamounts made the preseason All-America East team after making the postseason first team last season: fifth-year 5–8 guard Emma Utterback (averages last season of 14.0 points, 4.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals) and senior 6-1 forward Anna Olson (13.6 points, 4.1 rebounds).
Utterback again has led Vermont in scoring this season with 15.8 points per game, with Olson averaging 13.3.
The Catamounts have three players 6–2 or taller but only 6–2 sophomore center Nikola Priede is averaging double-digit minutes.
Vermont, which added three freshmen and a transfer in the offseason, has struggled from the perimeter, making only 27.3% of its 3-point attempts.
The Catamounts have beaten Miami of Ohio (60–48) and Division II Saint Rose (60–44) at home, and have beaten Quinnipiac (58–53) and lost to Providence (57–46) on the road.
This will be the first meeting between UNC and Vermont. The Catamounts are 7–16 against current ACC schools, with three victories over Syracuse in seven meetings, two in nine meetings with Boston College, one in three games with Louisville, and they won their only meeting with N.C. State.
NOTES — UNC has held three of its four opponents this season fewer than50 points and two of them under 40. … The Tar Heels are No. 10 in the country in scoring defense, allowing 47.5 points per game. They’re in the top five in turnover margin (13.5, fifth) and turnovers per game (10.2, fourth). … A different player has played the most minutes in all four games, with five Tar Heels averaging between 25 and 27 minutes per game and 10 players average nine minutes or more.
Tar Heel Tribune will be at Estero, Fla., this week to cover all three Carolina games at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Gulf Coast Showcase
Hertz Arena, Estero, Fla.
All games stream on FloHoops
Friday’s first round results
No. 16 Kansas State 77, Western Kentucky 61
No. 18 North Carolina 54, Vermont 51
Florida Gulf Coast 83, Delaware 68
No. 4 Iowa 98, Purdue Fort Wayne 59
Saturday’s semifinals
No. 16 Kansas State 64, No. 18 North Carolina 56
No. 4 Iowa 100, Florida Gulf Coast 62
Saturday’s losers’ bracket results
Western Kentucky 62, Vermont 50
Purdue Fort Wayne 88, Delaware 74
Sunday’s games
Seventh-place game: Delaware 73, Vermont 66
Fifth-place game: Purdue Fort Wayne 90, Western Kentucky 77
Consolation game: Florida Gulf Coast 65, No. 18 North Carolina 64
Championship: No. 4 Iowa 77, No. 16 Kansas State 70
UNC season statistics
UNC/Vermont comparison
UNC statistic Vermont
76.5 (81) scoring average. 56.2 (297)
.412 (161) FG % .421 (131)
.301 (175) 3FG % .273 (243)
.805 (151) FT % .688 (184)
39.7 (125) RPG 34.3 (271)
15.8 (77) APG 14.8 (121)
10.2 (4) TPG 13.5 (44)
10.5 (73) SPG 4.5 (337)
4.8 (49) BPG 4.5 (63)
47.5 (10) scoring defense 50.5 (20)
.335 (43) FG% defense .370 (114)
.243 (63) 3FG% defense .266 (115)
7.0 (103) 3FG per game 5.2 (221)
+29.0 (21) scoring margin +5.8 (156)
+5.8 (97) rebounding margin +3.2 (147)
1.54 (17) assist/TO ratio 1.09 (65)
+13.5 (5) TO margin 0.25 (192)
18 AP ranking NR
17 Coaches’ poll ranking NR
Vermont season statistics
| 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 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
tarheeltribune.com 
