By R.L. Bynum
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tough defense drove success for North Carolina this season, but the Tar Heels had no answers for No. 1 South Carolina’s relentless attack.
After the Gamecocks only beat UNC by seven in the first meeting in Chapel Hill, they dominated a Tar Heels team with a much more depleted backcourt.
South Carolina’s ability to force turnovers, push the pace and rain in 3-pointers (nine) was too much for UNC as the unbeaten Gamecocks took control with a 30–2 first-half run and coasted to an 88–41 home victory Sunday at Colonial Life Arena in the second round of the NCAA women’s tournament.
It was easily the largest margin of defeat in Coach Courtney Banghart’s five seasons.
“They’re so physical and so big, and they’ve got so much at every spot, [it] takes an enormous amount of energy,” said Banghart, who went from playing 11 players in the first game to playing eight on Sunday and getting no bench scoring. “You have to decide, am I going to take away their interior game with activity, or am I going to play 1-v-1 there? And they made big shots. They didn’t make as much in the first game. We weren’t able to extend the court as much.”
Guards Kayla McPherson, Reniya Kelly and Paulina Paris, who helped UNC (20–12) navigate the Gamecocks’ press in November, could only watch from the bench as South Carolina (34–0) imposed its will on the Tar Heels. The South Carolina defense constantly harassed Deja Kelly, UNC’s primary ballhandler in the past few weeks.
“Defensively, they had a great game plan,” Banghart said.” We don’t have a lot of ball-handling guards. The last time we played them, we had three different ball-handling guards in, so Deja could play off the ball some. Now, with our roster depletion, that wasn’t what we could do.”
Freshman Gamecocks guard MiLaysia Fulwiley, who played three scoreless minutes in the first game, came off the bench to lead the Gamecocks with 18 points and create havoc on defense.
When one of your healthy guards and best player in Kelly goes 2 of 13 from the floor, it’s going to be a long day. Carolina’s point total was a season-low (the previous worst 54 against Vermont.)
South Carolina, which outrebounded UNC 54–33, constantly put bodies on Kelly (who scored seven points) and was about as physical against her as any opponent this season, contributing to her six turnovers.
“Hell yeah,” was how Kelly responded when asked if the officials allowed a lot of contact against her.
“There was a lot of contact allowed,” Kelly said. “I was talking to the refs, and it was going through one ear out the other. You kind of saw how they were calling it from the jump. They were favoring their side. But that’s how it goes.”
South Carolina tried to get the ball out of her hands and made every one of her shots difficult.
“I think that’s kind of what every team’s game plan is, to try to get me out of the game and make everyone else beat them,” Kelly said. “So, they did that from jump, and that’s when we got stagnant. We didn’t really try to put me off the ball and have me off ball screens until the fourth quarter. If we did that earlier, that would have opened a lot of different things up for everyone else.”
Alyssa Ustby was the only Tar Heel to score in double figures with 12 points, with Maria Gakdeng scoring eight and the Heels getting seven each from Lexi Donarski and Indya Nivar.
“They’re really competitive, active [for] the full 40 minutes,” said Ustby, who was in a tough battle with South Carolina’s Chloe Kitts (12 points) at times. “And they made everything for us pretty tough. Even on the offensive and defensive glass, they were always crashing. They were just creating a lot more opportunities for themselves.”
Before Sunday, UNC’s worst margin of defeat was 12 points in a 76–64 loss to No. 10 UConn in Uncasville, Conn., on Dec. 10.
While Ustby said that she saw a lot of progress throughout the season and called the group resilient in the face of a lot of adversity, Kelly took the opposite view.
“This is one of our toughest years,” Kelly said. “It required a lot of pick-me-up from us vets. And obviously, the injuries hit us hard. But it happens to every team.
“But I think there were some moments, some strides throughout the season where you saw a lot of resiliency but there were moments where there wasn’t,” Kelly said. “I think it was a lot of up and down — probably took a toll on everyone mentally a lot. But this is probably one of our toughest years, for sure.”
By the time UNC started shooting better in the third quarter (31.6% compared to 22.6% in the first half), the game had long been decided.
“I think we watched some of the clips of that [first] game and saw how physical things were,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “I don’t think we handled them well. I thought they out-aggressived us.”
Kamilla Cardoso (12 points, 10 rebounds) scored two of South Carolina’s three consecutive layups to give the Gamecocks a 7–2 lead in the first four minutes.
“We have to be physical in order for her to get less touches, and I feel like we did a good job with that,” Gakdeng said of defending Cardoso. “But I got in foul trouble.”
A 17–2 Gamecocks run to end the first quarter gave them a 28–8 lead as UNC went scoreless for the last three minutes of the opening quarter.
“I don’t think it was the physicality, I think it was just the overall flow of the game,” Donarski said. “And I felt like South Carolina did a good job of maintaining their momentum and taking advantages where we were lacking.
By the time an Ustby free throw ended a nearly 5½-minute scoring drought with 7:44 left in the first half, UNC’s deficit had only been cut to 22. Nivar’s 3-pointer with 4:16 left in the first half ended the Tar Heels’ nearly eight-minute field-goal drought, stopping an 11–0 South Carolina run, and UNC trailed by 30.
“I felt like the games were pretty similar,” Ustby said. “I had a lot of good looks. I missed a few shots. I think that was the biggest difference. I think my productivity obviously wasn’t as good but I felt like the ball just wasn’t going in.”
A 13–1 Gamecocks run pushed the lead to 42 before UNC scored the last five points of the first half, trailing 56–19 at halftime. UNC had six games in which opponents scored 56 or fewer points in a game.
UNC played South Carolina on even terms in the third quarter, outscoring the Gamecocks 15–14 thanks to a pair of Donarski 3-pointers, but could never get the deficit under 31.
After taking a 70–34 lead into the fourth quarter, the Gamecocks scored the next 10 points to shove the lead to 46 points, and UNC only scored seven points in the final quarter.
NOTES — Seniors Ustby, Ali Zelaya and Anya Poole said they had not made decisions on using their fifth year of eligibility. … South Carolina’s point total topped the previous most by a UNC opponent of 81 by Virginia. … North Carolina fell to 3–29 against No. 1-ranked teams. … South Carolina tied the series at 11. … It was the Gamecocks’ fourth consecutive NCAA tournament win over the Tar Heels after Sweet 16 wins over UNC in 2014, 2015 and 2022. … Staley is 5–4 against UNC. … UNC fell to 16–27 under Banghart against ranked teams and 4–8 this season. … It was the first meeting in Colonial Life Arena and the first in Columbia since the Gamecocks’ 98–71 victory on Jan. 4, 1989. … The 56 first-half points UNC gave up were a season-high and the most given up under Banghart. This season’s previous most were 36 points in wins over Oklahoma and Louisville. The previous high for a half was 44 points in the second halves against Davidson and Virginia. … The crowd was announced as 14,266.
No. 1 South Carolina 88, UNC 41
| 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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