By R.L. Bynum

The moment the game appeared on North Carolina’s schedule, it generated the most excitement for a women’s basketball home game in years.

Carmichael Arena is sold out for Wednesday’s 7 p.m. showdown (ESPN) with No. 1 South Carolina (5–0), a program that has dominated the sport recently with two national championships in the last seven seasons and five Final Fours in the last nine seasons.

“That’s the game that we’ve been excited about,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “I know that Carolina, the community, has been really excited about it, to be able to host a team that’s had such a stronghold on our game for the last few years.”

In their 16th season under Coach Dawn Staley, the Gamecocks have won 47 of their last 48 games and blown through their schedule so far, averaging 100.4 points per game while giving up only 48.3. They’ve blown out two ranked teams, beating Notre Dame (No. 10 at the time but now No. 18) 100–71 in the season opener in Paris and Maryland (No. 14 at the time but currently unranked) 114–76 on Nov. 12.

Banghart says she approaches Wednesday’s game as an opportunity after two frustrating losses at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla., last weekend.

“You come to Carolina for competitive opportunities,” Banghart said. “I give hats off to our community that the game sold out. And so there’s a lot of energy for this program right now. And we have to rise to that. We earned it, but we have to rise to it.”

North Carolina (5–2) is ranked No. 24 — its lowest in the AP Top 25 poll since Feb. 14, 2022 — after beating Vermont 54–51 in the first round of the Gulf Coast Showcase, but losing 63–55 to No. 14 Kansas State and 65–64 to Florida Gulf Coast.

The Tar Heels have played tough defense throughout the first seven games, but foul trouble, poor shooting and missed late free-throw attempts have been a persistent problem. All were big factors in the two Showcase losses.

“These are all kids I’ve chosen,” Banghart said. “And so I know they’ll continue to get better. You don’t win this thing in November. As long as you grow from it, then it’s all helpful. You’d rather learn through winning, but it’s not always the way life works.”

Life on the court against South Carolina can turn treacherous for teams not playing their best. Even when an opponent is on its game, it many times isn’t enough.

North Carolina made a habit of falling behind while in Florida, leading for only 17 minutes, 9 seconds out of 120 minutes in the three games. In the Vermont win and the Kansas State loss, the Tar Heels combined to lead for only 3 minutes, 9 seconds out of 80 minutes.

“We need more guys playing better,” Banghart said. “That’s the first thing. What is it that they’re holding back from to be playing better? The ball has to move better east-west so that we can create more. I think defensively, we’re pretty solid.”

The Tar Heels will need to find the perimeter range to stay with the Gamecocks after shooting 6 of 33 from 3-point range in three Florida games.

Junior 6–3 Boston College transfer center Maria Gakdeng emerged as a force inside in the Florida Gulf Coast loss, tying her career-high with 22 points and making all eight shots from the floor and all six free-throw attempts while pulling down nine rebounds.

She had a height advantage against the Eagles, but that won’t be the case Thursday when she goes up against 6–7 former Syracuse center Kamilla Cardoso, who averages 16.8 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.0 blocks and 2.0 assists per game and was the SEC Sixth Woman of the Year last season.

South Carolina is talented, despite losing center Aliyah Boston (the first overall WNBA draft pick by the Indiana Fever and the Rookie of the Year), Zia Cooke, Brea Beal, Laeticia Amihere and Olivia Thompson from last season’s 36–1 team.

There is talent up and down the Gamecocks’ roster from sensational 5–10 freshman point guard MiLaysia Fulwiley (15.0 points, 3.8 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.4 blocks per game) and senior 5–9 guard Te-Hina Paopau (13.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists) to redshirt sophomore 5–9 guard Raven Johnson (11.0 points, 8.6 assists, 3.4 steals).

In Cardoso’s last game against UNC at Syracuse, she had 10 points and 16 rebounds in an 88–76 home win over the Tar Heels on Jan. 19, 2021. Deja Kelly, Alyssa Ustby and Anya Poole are the only current Tar Heels who played in that game.

NOTES — Red Panda performed at halftime of UNC’s men’s basketball victory over No. 10 Tennessee, and will also perform at halftime of the women’s game. … It will be the second sellout in as many seasons after UNC’s 56–47 win over N.C. State on Jan. 15 last season drew 6,319. … The largest home crowd in program history was 12,722 when No. 1 UConn beat No. 2 UNC 88–58 on Jan. 19, 2009, at the Smith Center. That was the record for the largest women’s college basketball crowd in the state of North Carolina until Iowa’s 80–76 victory over Virginia Tech at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Nov. 9 drew 15,196. … UNC is 3–27 all-time against No. 1 teams, with all three wins coming at home. The Tar Heels beat No. 1 Duke teams twice (56–51 on Jan. 24, 2005, and 77–65 Feb. 25, 2006) and an unranked UNC team topped No. 1 Notre Dame 78–73 on Jan. 29, 2019. The latter is the last time a No. 1 team played at Carmichael Arena. This is UNC’s first game against a No. 1 team since South Carolina won 69–61 in the 2022 Sweet 16 in Greensboro. … North Carolina, which leads the all-time series 11–9, had won six of seven games against South Carolina before the Gamecocks won the last two meetings, both Sweet 16 matchups in Greensboro: 67–65 in 2015 and the aforementioned 2022 game. … This is the first meeting on a campus site since South Carolina won 98–71 in Columbia on Jan. 4, 1989. The previous 12 games were at neutral sites. The teams have split four previous games in Carmichael, with South Carolina winning in 1979 (69–60) and 1981 (83–77) and UNC winning in 1985 (72–71) and 1987 (77–73). … From the 2000–01 season to the 2013–14 season, eight consecutive UNC-South Carolina games were played in Myrtle Beach, S.C., with the Tar Heels winning six of eight. … Cardoso was on a veteran Brazil team that beat Kelly’s U.S. team filled with college players 69–58 in the AmeriCup gold-medal game on July 9 in Leon, Mexico.

UNC season statistics

South Carolina season statistics

UNC vs. South Carolina

Jan. 24, 1976 — W, 65–75, at Columbia, S.C.
Jan. 20, 1979 — L, 69–60, at Chapel Hill
Feb. 16, 1980 — L, 94–62, at Columbia, S.C.
March 9, 1981 — L, 83–77, at Chapel Hill
Dec. 14, 1985 —W, 71–72, at Chapel Hill
Jan. 28, 1987 — W, 46–67, at Columbia, S.C.
Dec. 12, 1987 — W, 73–77, at Chapel Hill
Jan. 4, 1989 — L, 98–71, at Columbia, S.C.
Jan. 6, 1991 — L, 76–69, at Conway, S.C.
Dec. 21, 2000 — W, 68–74, at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Dec. 20, 2001 — L, 85–53, at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Dec. 20, 2002 — W, 69–78, at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Dec. 20, 2003 — W, 53–77, at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Dec. 20, 2009 — W, 85–93, at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Dec. 19, 2010 — W, 51–75, at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Dec. 18, 2011 — L, 79–48, at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Dec. 18, 2013 — W, 66–74, at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
March 30, 2014 — W, 58–65, at Palo Alto, Calif. (NCAA Sweet 16)
March 27, 2015 — L, 67–65, at Greensboro (NCAA Sweet 16)
March 25, 2022 — L, 69–61, at Greensboro (NCAA Sweet 16)

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