By Jeremiah Artacho

It was a milestone victory for UNC coach Courtney Banghart and a breakout game for freshman guard Lanie Grant in No. 16 North Carolina’s 63–52 victory Saturday in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis in Nassau, Bahama.

Grant led the way with 15 points off the bench, with three 3-pointers, two rebounds and an assist, to lift Banghart to her 100th career win at UNC.

North Carolina (4–1) faces Villanova in a 4 p.m. semifinal (FloSports) after the Wildcats beat Texas A&M 65–47 in the last first-round games. UNC has won both previous meetings

“That is something we don’t take lightly,” fifth-year wing Alyssa Ustby said of Banghart’s milestone. “It is hard to get wins in any conference, let alone the ACC, which is one of the best in the country and day in, day out coach Banghart is constantly working to make all of us individually better and the group.

“This coach does not stop, and that’s all you want as an athlete because we’re showing up too,” Ustby said. “She needs us there every single time to help us get better. She’s the motor behind this entire program.”

Utsby added 12 points and 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. She shot 3-6 from the field and converted a three-pointer during the first quarter of play.

“I’m just so grateful that she picked me up a few years to play for her,” Utsby said of Banghart. “The rest is history.”

The 17-year-old Grant (above) exploded for a big night, shooting 50% in 27 minutes. Her highest previous scoring output on the season was seven points against UConn and North Carolina A&T.

“It’s definitely exciting,” Grant said. “You get to go out, compete with this team and then come out with a W. I think that my output is a testament to how hard as a group that we’ve worked. After the UConn game, kicking the ball in and out. Me making shots is great, but it came from people finding me which is really, really important. I’m very, very grateful for this opportunity.”

Ustby chimed in on Grant’s response.

“Lanie Grant is very humble,” Utsby said “She is a dog on the court and she’s somebody everyone has to watch out for. That girl can hoop.”

Coach Banghart was without senior forward Maria Gakdeng so the team counted on others without her presencer.

“We always hope she’s gonna play,” Banghart said. “So we’ll know more when our medical team continues to put her in the best position to be successful. Her mom is here, her family is here, and we’re better when Maria is on the floor. But she wasn’t on the floor today, so we’ll keep getting her better and hope she can help us soon.”

Despite Gakdeng’s absence, the Tar Heels held the rebounding advantage 37–32. North Carolina is averaging 41.3 rebounds.

North Carolina has won four of its first five games of the season. However, the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament serves the challenge of playing three games in three days.

“Three games in three days, anybody knows that that’s a grind,” Utsby said. “One thing that’s exciting for me as a fifth-year senior with this team is this team is committed to playing their butts off, every 40-minute game. That’s something to be really excited about and ready for the challenge.”

Grant said that the team has prepared to play three successive days

“Andrew [Graber] and Jodi [Schneider], our staff, have been pushing us in practices and it has been a standard — knowing that we have three games in three days,” Grant said. “Coach kind of touched on it, we have a very, very deep bench or our ‘group’ as she said is very, very deep so I think that we’re going to be able to lean on a lot of different people which is going to be exciting to see.”

The Tar Heels got 29 points off the bench, with junior guard Trayanna Crisp scoring 12 points behind Grant. Twenty-four of UNC’s 63 points came inside, while 17 came off turnovers. Banghart’s squad stole the basketball nine times.

No. 16 UNC 63, Ball State 52

Battle 4 Atlantis

Imperial Arena | Nassau, Bahamas
Saturday’s first-round games
No.18 Baylor 101, Southern Miss 55
Indiana 72, Columbia 62
No. 16 North Carolina 63, Ball State 52
Villanova 65, Texas A&M 47
Sunday’s games (all on FloCollege)
Semifinals
Baylor vs. Indiana, 1:30
UNC vs. Villanova, 4:30
Consolation bracket
Southern Miss vs. Columbia, 6:30
Ball State vs. Texas A&M, 9 p.m.
Sunday’s games
Championship, noon, ESPN
Third-place game, 2:30, ESPNU
Fifth-place game, 5 p.m., FloCollege
Seven-place game, 7:30, FloCollege

Date	Day/month	Time/ score	Opponent/event (current rank)	TV/ record
	November
4	Monday	W, 83–53	vs. Charleston Southern	1–0
7	Thursday	W, 77–50	vs. UNCW	2–0
12	Tuesday	W, 66–47	at N.C. A&T	3–0
15	Friday	L, 69–58	vs. No. 2 UConn in Greensboro	3–1
			Battle 4 Atlantis Paradise Island, Bahamas
23	Saturday	W, 63–52	Ball State	4–1
24	Sunday	4:30	Texas A&M or Villanova	FloHoops
25	Monday	Noon or 2:30	No. 18 Baylor or Indiana	ESPN or ESPNU
			———————————
29	Friday	2 p.m.	vs. N.C. Central	ESPN3
	December
			ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge
5	Thursday	5 p.m.	vs. No. 15 Kentucky	ESPN2
			———————————
8	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Coppin State	ESPN3
11	Wednesday	7 p.m.	vs. UNCG	ESPN3
15	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Georgia Tech	ACCN
			Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte
18	Wednesday	6:30	vs. Florida	ESPNU
			———————————
21	Saturday	Noon	vs. Norfolk State	ESPN3
			ACC season
29	Sunday	4 p.m.	at Miami	ACCN
	January
5	Sunday	1 p.m.	vs. No. 6 Notre Dame	ESPN
9	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. No. 14 Duke	TBA
12	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Boston College	ACCN
16	Thursday	8 p.m. ET	at SMU	ESPN3
19	Sunday	2 p.m.	at Pitt	ACCN
23	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ESPN3
26	Sunday	Noon	vs. Florida State	ACCN
30	Thursday	TBA	at Cal	ESPN3
	February
2	Sunday	3 p.m. ET	at Stanford	The CW
9	Sunday	2 p.m.	at Clemson	ESPN3
13	Thursday	7 p.m.	vs. Virginia Tech	ESPN3
16	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. No. 20 N.C. State	ESPN
20	Thursday	6 p.m.	at Syracuse	ACCN
23	Sunday	2 p.m.	at No. 25 Louisville	ESPN
27	Thursday	7 p.m.	at No. 14 Duke	ESPN
	March
2	Sunday	2 p.m.	vs. Virginia	The CW
5–9	Wed.–Sun.		ACC tournament First Horizon Coliseum Greensboro