By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Anybody who thought that top-ranked South Carolina would roll into Chapel Hill and coast to victory didn’t know the character and resolve of No. 24 North Carolina.
UNC has a history of giving the national power some of its toughest games, and that was the case again Thursday when the Tar Heels led by as many as 11 points in the first half. They battled admirably before losing 65–58 in the inaugural ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge before a loud and sold-out crowd of 6,319 at Carmichael Arena.
“I’m really proud of the following that we’ve earned, and they gave us what they got, as did our team,” Banghart said of the crowd.
UNC (5–3) kept it close despite shooting 31.3% from the floor and 19% from 3-point range, thanks to a 45–39 rebounding edge and tough defense that forced 13 turnovers and held the Gamecocks 35.3 points below their average. After trailing for a total of 19 minutes, 11 seconds in their first five games, they trailed UNC for 21 minutes, 44 seconds Thursday.
South Carolina (6–0), which has won 48 of its last 49 games, hadn’t been outrebounded since a 76–71 overtime win at Stanford on Nov. 20, 2022.
“We fought and, obviously, on the glass we were really good,” Banghart said. “South Carolina is a great team. They’re big. And it was just a good college basketball game for all the fans.”
The Gamecocks, who beat UNC in the Sweet 16 by two in 2015 and eight on its way to the 2022 NCAA title, got all it could handle from the one-two offensive punch of Deja Kelly (20 points, two steals) and Alyssa Ustby (18 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a team-high 11.8 game score).
Graduate Iowa State transfer guard Lexi Donarski (nine points, six rebounds, three 3-pointers, two assists, two steals) missed a tough 3-point attempt with 16 seconds left that could have cut the deficit to one.
“I’m disappointed for them that that three late doesn’t go in,” Banghart said. “It’s what keeps coaches up at night — what possession could have been different? But they didn’t hire me here to be happy that we came close.”
North Carolina may have lost three games in a row, but it earned plenty of national respect against the Gamecocks, who had won their previous five games by an average of 52.6 points, scoring 100.4 points per game.
Banghart said that the team she saw Thursday was different than the one that played three games in a frigid Florida hockey arena and limped through some injuries at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
“This is the team that I recognize,” Banghart said. “We have to allow results not to define you, win or lose. It shows you what you’re made of. These guys are made of the right stuff. We’re not good enough yet, individually or collectively, but we’re made of the right stuff. So, as we continue to move through this season, this will define that inside the locker room.”
Kelly (below photo) didn’t leave the game, despite four fouls, until 2:13 left in the third quarter after colliding with the upper body of 6–7 South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso, who had six points and 16 rebounds. After being slow to get up and going back to the dressing room, she was back to start the fourth quarter.
Kelly fouled out with 14 seconds left, with one of those fouls coming in the form of a technical foul after a first-quarter confrontation. Ustby and Ashlyn Watkins got tangled up in the backcourt and exchanged shoves, then words. After Watkins yelled some more at Ustby, she ran into the back of Kelly around midcourt after Cardoso tried to hold Watkins back.
When Kelly gave Watkins a light shove with two hands, Watkins muttered, “don’t touch me,” and Cardoso shoved Kelly in the back. That led UNC’s Anya Poole to get between Kelly and Cardoso while pointing at and having words with Cardoso. After a long replay review, Kelly and Watkins got technical fouls, which meant two fouls for Kelly.
“It’s two competitive teams going at it, high-level basketball. You’re going to have that chippiness, both teams are competitive, so I’ll just say that,” Kelly said. “I knew after I picked up two [fouls] early, I just had to be smart.”
The Gamecocks hadn’t seen a defense like this all season or an opponent as tenacious under the boards, but they made a season-best 54.5% of their 3-point attempts (6 of 11).
“The margin of error between these great teams? Our game is so healthy; it’s just so good,” Banghart said. “South Carolina is good; they’re not untouchable. [North] Carolina is good; we’re not untouchable. That’s just the nature of women’s basketball right now, which makes it so exciting.”
Ustby (top photo) rebounded from a tough final two games in Florida to lead the team in rebounding and came up with her patented all-around good game with gritty play and determination.
“Tonight called for more aggressive play and to rebound, to try to get us extra possessions and just do whatever I need for our team to be as successful,” Ustby said.
South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley said that Ustby “imposed her rebounding will” on her team.
“We got out of position sometimes, and she actually just got the ball,” Staley said. “It wasn’t really a skill; it was a decision. ‘I’m going to go get the ball,’ and she’s very good at it. We don’t get outrebounded very often. Kudos to them. They did a great job on boards.”
Foul trouble hit UNC for the fourth consecutive game.
In addition to Kelly, Anya Poole had three fouls in the first half, with Maria Gakdeng (8 points, 10 rebounds, 10.8 game score and a team-high +12) and Ustby getting their fourth fouls in the second half. Gakdeng’s foul trouble made it harder to deal with Cardoso and other Gamecocks’ post players inside.
“We were kind of tiptoeing around with some foul trouble,” Banghart said. “That gave us a shorter rotation at the big spot. It’s so physical, so it’s really tiring to play. So they were able to shuttle bigs out and in, and we really weren’t. That hurt us a lot in the game.”
South Carolina came up empty on its first seven possessions, including four turnovers. By the time South Carolina’s Raven Johnson hit a jumper with 5:21 left, the Tar Heels led 6–2.
“I thought we were really good defensively,” Kelly said of why UNC took control from early. “We were active. We were making them go to their third, fourth, fifth option offensively. So I think we got the stops that we wanted. I think what changed we weren’t getting maybe as many looks in transition once we did go get those stops and that led to either some quick shots or just missed shots.”
Two Donarski 3-pointers ignited a 10-4 run to give UNC a 19–10 lead after an opening quarter in which the Gamecocks had more turnovers (6) than field goals (4).
A Gakdeng layup pushed the lead to 11 before South Carolina sliced it to six with a 7–2 run. Kelly drew her third foul with 2:57 left in the first half on a questionable call on the offensive end. The Gamecocks cut UNC’s lead to 29–26 by halftime, scoring the final five points of the first half.
South Carolina didn’t have more field goals than turnovers (9–8) until Bree Hall’s 3-pointer with 58 seconds left in the first half.
The Gamecocks took their first lead of the game on a Te-Hina Paopao 3-pointer with 5:48 left in the third quarter. That came during a 12–1 run that put South Carolina up by six.
“We need to catch and release quicker,” Banghart said. “I think the fact that we haven’t shot the ball really well yet has us [taking] a half-second delay, which aren’t the shots you practice. You practice it game speed. And so there’s a hesitancy still — way less than it was in the ice rink — but still, a little hesitant. I think we still are turning down some shots that we need to take.”
When Kelly returned at the start of the fourth quarter, the Heels trailed 47–41.
UNC scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to trim it to two on a Gakdeng layup. A Donarski 3-pointer cut it to one, but Paopao’s 3 pushed it back to five with 5:34 remaining. South Carolina took its biggest lead of the game, 60–52, on a Hall 3-pointer with 2:08 left.
Four free throws, two by Deja Kelly and two by Kayla McPherson, cut the lead to three with 26 seconds left but two Chloe Kitts free throws made it five two seconds later. After Donaski’s perimeter miss, two Watkins free throws put the game away.
Hall led South Carolina with 15 points, and Paopao added 14.
NOTES — UNC returns home at 7 p.m. Wednesday to face UNC Greensboro. The Spartans (6–2), who finished 16–14 last season, have won three consecutive games after beating Coastal Carolina 65–59 on Wednesday. UNC (102–49) and UNCG (64–57) both beat Gardner-Webb. … Redshirt sophomore center Teonni Key still hasn’t made her season debut as she recovers from a right foot injury but has had the boot off for about 10 days. … South Carolina plays Sunday at Duke (5–1), which won at Georgia on Thursday in overtime 72–65. … The Challenge ended up tied at 7. … Deja Kelly, McPherson, Donarski, Ustby and Gakdeng started for the third consecutive game, with Kelly, Ustby and Gakdeng the only Tar Heels to start all eight games. … UNC wore their road-blue uniforms on “blue out” night at Carmichael. … Red Panda, after performing at halftime of UNC’s men’s win over Tennessee the night before, performed at Carmichael at halftime. … UNC’s lead in the series is down to 11–10 after the Gamecocks’ third consecutive victory. … The Tar Heels fell to 3–28 against No. 1 teams, with the last two losses against South Carolina. … Staley is 5–3 against UNC. … Six reporters from South Carolina were in Chapel Hill to cover the game, many staying in the Triangle to also cover the game Sunday in Durham. … There were 27 media members in the postgame press conference far more than usual.
No. 1 South Carolina 65, No. 24 UNC 58
UNC lineup combinations
| Score | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Segment score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starters | 10:00 | DK | McPherson | Donarski | Ustby | Gakdeng | 15–6 |
| 15–6 | 2:48 | RK | Poole | 4–3 | |||
| 19–10 | End 1 | McPherson | Gadkdeng | 4–2 | |||
| 23–12 | 7:23 | Poole | 0–1 | ||||
| 23–13 | 6:12 | Nivar | Zelaya | 0–5 | |||
| 23–17 | 4:38 | Ustby | 0–0 | ||||
| 23–17 | 3:28 | Paris | 6–9 | ||||
| 29–26 | Half | McPherson | 7–5 | ||||
| 36–31 | 7:02 | Poole | 3–14 | ||||
| 39–45 | 2:13 | McPherson | Paris | 2–2 | |||
| 41–47 | End 3 | DK | Gakdeng | 11–8 | |||
| 52–55 | 3:45 | McPherson | 2–5 | ||||
| 54–60 | 0:48 | RK | 2–1 | ||||
| 56–61 | 0:34 | DK | 0–0 | ||||
| 56–61 | 0:26 | RK | Nivar | 2–0 | |||
| 58–61 | 0:26 | RK | 2–0 | ||||
| 58–61 | 0:24 | DK | Ustby | 0–2 | |||
| 58–63 | 0:14 | RK | 0–2 | ||||
| 58–65 | Final |
| 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
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