By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — It’s not a stretch to say that the No. 15 North Carolina women will have players who can stretch the floor at nearly every position.

One of the newcomers who adds to that dynamic, even though she’s the tallest player on the roster at 6–5, is Charlotte four-star freshman Blanca Thomas — the rare stretch five.

“I like to stretch the floor, and I feel like a lot of true fives don’t stretch the floor as often. So being able to do that has allowed me to have different opportunities here,” said Thomas, who was asked if she has the green light to shoot outside the arc. “If I’m open, I would say yes, but I’m not going to be taking any contested threes or anything like that.”

The Tar Heels open the season at 11 a.m. Monday against Charleston Southern (ESPN3) in Carmichael Arena.

A first-team All-State pick her junior season at Charlotte Catholic, Thomas is one of three UNC freshmen on ESPN’s Class of 2024 top 100, ranking at No. 32, with point guard Lanie Grant at No. 59 and guard Jordan Zubich at No. 69.

Thomas played in the Jordan Brand Classic and went through the rigorous process in May to try out for the United States’ U18 team for the Women’s AmeriCup. Although she didn’t make the team, she said it made her a better player.

“It’s a great experience, but it’s a lot. You’re with all the top players in the country, and it’s kind of stressful because it’s two-a-days. It’s heavy work,” said Thomas, adding that Coach Courtney Banghart encouraged her to try out. “She was great in helping bring me along even though I didn’t make it.”

Thomas has grown throughout the year, from graduating from high school to starting college to learning so much during practices. Gone are the days when she towered over all her opponents during high school games, which has meant plenty of adjustments.

Practicing against 6–4 redshirt freshman forward Ciera Toomey and 6–3 senior center Maria Gakdeng has helped prepare her for the tough non-conference and ACC competition.

“It’s been fun, honestly, because it’s giving me a whole different perspective on basketball,” Thomas said. “I think Maria is a fantastic player, and being able to go against her every practice for the entire duration — it’s challenging. I know if I can defend her here, she’s helping me be better, and then I can go and play against another ACC team and defend their posts.”

Playing against tall teammates has shown Thomas areas of her game that she’ll have to improve when the Tar Heels face top-level competition.

“I definitely think coming from high school to college, I need to be more physical. In high school, I didn’t really have to worry about girls my height and being able to finish over someone who’s 6–4, 6–3, something like that,” Thomas said. “So, that’s definitely been an adjustment for me to try to figure out how it’s going to be, how I’m going to finish over the basket and stuff like that.”

Thomas says that she’s worked hard on her conditioning to get up and down the floor and keep up with the pace Banghart expects of the team.

Not many teams in the country will have two frontcourt players with as much talent making their college debuts this season as Thomas and Toomey.

“It’s nice when Ciera and I are relatively the same height, so whether it’s a switch or something like that, we do a great job of communicating that,” Thomas said. “And Ciera can defend out on the perimeter. I can step in, too. If she’s touching out and she’s shooting threes and I’m in there, I’m trying to bury someone, and we can work together.”

When she maneuvers inside, Thomas is an old-school back-to-the-basket center who also faces up to the basket well and stretches the floor. When she’s in the game, she expects to play mainly with another four.

“We can interchange very well,” Thomas said. “I’ll trail, and they’ll run the floor, or vice versa. And it works either way because we have so many different actions that I can run out of that trail spot, as well as what the four can run out of the trail spot, and then what I do out of the five and what they can do.”

Wherever she fits in, she helps make the ceiling for this Carolina team high.

Year	No.	Players	Pos.	Height
Freshman	5	Liza Astakhova (LEE-zah uh-STAH-koh-vuh)	W	6–2
Freshman	7	Nyla Brooks	W	6–1
		Brooks brings dazzling skills, confidence to UNC
Freshman	3	Taliyah Henderson	W	6–1
		Long wait, journey for 5-star freshman Henderson after second knee surgery nearly over
Freshman	26	Taissa Queiroz	G	6–1
		Queiroz came to USA from Brazil to chase her dreams
Sophomore	17	Elina Aarnisalo (EH-lee-nah AHR-nee-sah-loh)	G	5–10
		Aarnisalo brings flash, IQ and pro experience to backcourt
Sophomore	0	Lanie Grant	G	5–9
Sophomore	34	Blanca Thomas	C	6–5
Sophomore	1	Jordan Zubich	G	5–11
RS sophomore	21	Ciera Toomey	F	6–4
RS sophomore	4	Laila Hull	W	6–1
Junior	10	Reniya Kelly	PG	5–7
Junior	15	Sydney Barker	PG	5–6
Senior	2	Nyla Harris	F	6–2
		It was hard for Harris to say ‘no’ to UNC again
Senior	24	Indya Nivar	G	5–10

Class of 2025

Player	Rating	ESPN rank	Position	Height	Hometown
Nyla Brooks	Five star	No. 13	Wing	6–2	Alexandria, Va.
Taliyah Henderson	Five star	No. 27	Wing	6–1	Vail, Ariz.
Taissa Queiroz	Four star	No. 77	Guard	6–1	Santa Rosa, Calif.
Liza Astakhova	—	—	Wing	6–1	Moscow, Russia

Date	Day/month	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
30	Thursday	L, 91–82	No. 3 South Carolina in Atlanta	Exhib.
	November
3	Monday	W, 90–42	vs. N.C. Central	1–0
6	Thursday	W, 71–37	vs. Elon	2–0
			WBCA Challenge Las Vegas
13	Thursday	L, 78–60	vs. No. 4 UCLA	2–1
15	Saturday	W, 82–68	vs. Fairfield	3–1
			———————————
20	Thursday	W, 85–50	at N.C. A&T	4–1
23	Sunday	W, 94–48	vs. UNCG	5–1
			Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico
27	Thursday	W, 83–48	vs. South Dakota St.	6–1
28	Friday	W, 85–73	vs. Kansas State	7–1
29	Saturday	W, 80–63	vs. Columbia	8–1
	December		ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge
4	Thursday	W, 79–64	at No. 2 Texas	8–2
			———————————
7	Sunday	W, 82–40	vs. Boston Univ.	9–2
14	Sunday	L, 76–66, OT	vs. No. 16 Louisville	9–3, 0–1 ACC
17	Wednesday	W, 84–34	vs. UNCW	10–3
21	Sunday	Noon	vs. Charleston Southern	ACCN Extra
29	Monday	8 p.m.	at Boston College	ACCN
	January
1	Thursday	Noon	vs. California	ACCN
4	Sunday	1 p.m.	vs. Stanford	ESPN
11	Sunday	1 p.m.	at No. 20 Notre Dame	ESPN
15	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. Miami	ACCN Extra
18	Sunday	2 p.m.	at Florida State	The CW
22	Thursday	8 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
25	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	The CW
	February
2	Monday	6 p.m.	at N.C. State	ESPN2
5	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. Clemson	ACCN
8	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
12	Thursday	6 p.m.	vs. SMU	ACCN
15	Sunday	1 p.m.	at Duke	ABC
19	Thursday	6 p.m.	at Virginia Tech	ACCN
22	Sunday	Noon	vs. Pittsburgh	ACCN
26	Thursday	7 p.m.	at Virginia	ACCN Extra
	March
1	Sunday	Noon	vs. Duke	ESPN
			ACC tournament
4–8	Wed.-Sun		Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga.
			NCAA tournament
20–24	Fri.-Mon.		First, second rounds
27–30	Fri.-Mon.		Regionals Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif.
	April
3, 5	Fri., Sun		Final Four Phoenix