By R.L. Bynum
ESTERO, Fla. — North Carolina left Florida with two losses, some tough lessons and plenty of heartbreak after missing late opportunities.
After Kierra Adams’ driving layup put Florida Gulf Coast up by one with seven seconds left, Deja Kelly’s potential game-winning shot missed, and Lexi Donarski’s follow shot went in a split-second too late.
Carolina, which missed two chances to expand its one-point lead in the final 1:47, was left with a 65–64 loss and a two-game losing streak heading into Thursday’s home showdown with No. 1 South Carolina.
Coach Courtney Banghart liked the effort but was frustrated with the result that came after foul trouble forced her to improvise with lineups and play without three starters — Kayla McPherson, Alyssa Ustby and Donarski — for long second-half stretches. Banghart used two post players — Maria Gakdeng, who tied her career-high with 22 points, and Anya Poole — for the first time and for many minutes.
“They responded with better energy, just better fight today,” Banghart said after her team lost 63–56 to No. 16 Kansas State on Saturday. “It was hard to get any sort of rhythm. We need more guys to play well and, with all the changing lineups, with all the injuries and all that, we just haven’t played enough together probably to develop the internal collective trust that they need on the floor. And that will come with time.”
Kelly said all that the Tar Heels can do now is look forward.
“Obviously, there’ll be film and a lot of learning opportunities from this game. But we just have to grow from it,” said Kelly, who scored 24 points for her 22nd career game of at least 20.
Two of UNC’s next three games are against top-six teams, with the Tar Heels also facing No. 6 Connecticut on Dec. 10 in Uncasville, Conn., making quick growth even more important.
Shooting better — a season-high 51.2% from the floor, 20 of 29 at the free-throw line (season-highs for makes and attempts) and 2 of 5 from 3-point range — was a positive. A season-high 15 turnovers were not.
Kelly and Gakdeng did everything they could. But the way the final minutes played out will be hard to accept for the Tar Heels, who couldn’t make a big play in the end, capped with Kelly’s late miss.
“We were looking to put the ball in Deja’s hands to make some decisions,” Banghart said.
The Eagles (5–2) suspected that she would get the ball and threw bodies at her, forcing her to take a tough shot.
“We had different looks,” Kelly said. “Just myself with the ball in my hands. Got a decent shot.”
Carolina missed chances at the end of the Davidson game on Nov. 12, but pulled out a 74–70 win. It wasn’t to be on Sunday.
With a two- or three-inch advantage on her defenders, Gakdeng was a focal point of the offense.
“I think we just felt like we had an advantage there,” Banghart said of Gakdeng. “They didn’t necessarily have the shot-blocking. So, we expected her to have a big night.”
Gakdeng had consistent success inside, making all eight of her shots and all six of her free-throw attempts. She was a 54% career free-throw shooter before this season, but her work in that area is obvious.
“Working for positioning is something that we work on in practice, of hitting the post, making sure I get touches,” Gakdeng said. “Over time, I’ve been getting more comfortable in the post on finishing, working on that.”
Gakdeng equaled the point total she put up for Boston College last season on Feb. 26 in the Eagles’ 73–63 victory at Wake Forest.
UNC fought foul trouble again, with three players picking up their fourth fouls in the third quarter — McPherson (89 seconds into the second half), Ustby (4:19 left) and Donarski (1:02 left). The Eagles had similar issues, with one starter (Cerina Rolle) fouling out and two others (Uju Ezeudu and Maddie Antenucci) finishing with four fouls.
“Lexi was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year,” Banghart said. “The kid can really guard, and she squares up well. I think she’s pretty squared up, and she gets called for fouls. She’s also very confused because that wasn’t the case when she played the Big 12. She’ll have to continue to find angles that work in the ACC, I guess.”
Florida Gulf Coast likes to say that it is position-less, with the position for every player on the roster listed as “shooter.” Shoot, the Eagles do, trying to either set screens to get open 3-point attempts or to open up drives to the basket. They’ve led Division 1 in 3-pointers each of the last four seasons and were 11 of 27 outside the arc Sunday.
“I thought our guys, for the most part, we guarded them OK,” Banghart said. “They made some 3s that they really haven’t been making. … Every time they drove at your hip, it was a foul.”
Florida Gulf Coast quickly took a 4–0 lead and had as much as a six-point edge before leading 23–18 after one quarter.
Kelly scored the first eight points, including a 3-pointer, of a 13–3 UNC run to end the first half. Gakdeng had six during that run, and Kelly’s two free throws with five seconds left gave UNC its first lead of the game, 33-31, which the Heels held at halftime. The Eagles went the last 6:20 of the first half with only one field goal.
Carolina hadn’t held a lead in Estero since the first 2½ minutes of Saturday’s 63–56 loss to No. 16 Kansas State.
UNC scored the first five points of the second half and had their biggest lead of the tournament at seven points with 8:11 left in the third quarter. The Heels’ biggest previous lead was against Vermont at the end of the 54–51 win.
The Eagles went on a 9–2 run to seize a four-point lead, and took a 52–50 lead into the fourth quarter. After UNC went on an 11–4 run to lead 61–58 on an Anya Poole drive and an Indya Nivar free throw, Dolly Cairnes tied it for the Eagles with a 3-pointer with 4:19 left.
After a Cairnes layup cut it to one, UNC missed two chances to expand the lead. Kelly missed two free throws with 1:47 left, and Ustby traveled with 37 seconds remaining.
NOTES — UNC made only six of 41 3-point attempts in the three tournaemnt games. … Carolina had eight assists and 15 turnovers but outrebounded Florida Gulf Coast 27–21. … Ustby’s three points were her fewest since going scoreless in a loss to Florida State on Feb. 4, 2021. She played only 23 minutes, 48 seconds, her fewest in a competitive game since she was a reserve and played 22 minutes in an 81–75 win Charlotte on Dec. 6, 2020. … No. 4 Iowa beat No. 16 Kansas State 77–70 in the championship game. … Vermont, which UNC had to rally to beat 54–51 in Friday’s first round, lost its other two games, 62–50 to Western Kentucky on Saturday and 73–66 to Delaware on Sunday, and dropped to 3–4. … In the fifth-place game, Purdue Fort Wayne topped Western Kentucky 90–77. … Florida Gulf Coast plays at Duke on Dec. 10. … Redshirt sophomore Teonni Key missed her seventh straight game as she recovers from a right foot injury. … The Gamecocks (5–0) have scored at least 100 points four times, including in Friday’s 101–19 home win over Mississippi Valley State.
Florida Gulf Coast 65, No. 18 UNC 64
UNC lineup combinations
| Score | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Segment score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starters | 10:00 | DK | McPherson | Donarski | Ustby | Gakdeng | 8–10 |
| 8–10 | 3:21 | Nivar | 4–6 | ||||
| 12–16 | 1:37 | Paris | Nivar | 0–0 | |||
| 12–16 | 1:30 | Poole | 8–9 | ||||
| 20–25 | 7:15(2nd) | McPherson | 0–0 | ||||
| 20–25 | 6:49 | Ustby | Gakdeng | 7–5 | |||
| 27–30 | 1:51 | Poole | 0–0 | ||||
| 27–30 | 1:41 | RK | 6–1 | ||||
| 33–31 | 0:05 | Nivar | 0–0 | ||||
| 33–31 | Half | McPherson | Ustby | 3–0 | |||
| 36–31 | 8:31 | Nivar | 6–8 | ||||
| 42–39 | 4:23 | Poole | 4–9 | ||||
| 46–48 | 1:37 | Poole | Gakdeng | 4–6 | |||
| 50–54 | 9:34(4th) | McPherson | Nivar | 11–7 | |||
| 61–61 | 4:06 | Donarski | 3–2 | ||||
| 64–63 | 2:05 | Donarski | Ustby | 0–2 | |||
| 64–65 | Final |
UNC 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
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