By Bob Sutton
The 3-point shooting touch was a nice bonus for the North Carolina women’s basketball team on Monday.
The No. 16 Tar Heels had another impressive defense performance, but the long-range connections might garner the most attention from a 69–39 romp past Indiana in the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
“This is a team that celebrates each other,” coach Courtney Banghart said. “They’re fun to coach. I think they’re starting to scratch the surface on how good they can be.”
If there’s more 3-point shooting like in this latest game, the Tar Heels (6–1) are bound to be in good shape. They made 11 of 23 attempts from beyond the arc.
Trayanna Crisp scored all her points on 3s, and reserve Indya Nivar scored 15 points to go with nine points apiece from reserve Ciera Toomey and Alyssa Ustby.
“All that work that I put in the offseason,” Crisp said of the seeds for such a shooting performance.
The Tar Heels made 47.8% of their 3-point attempts and shot 39.5% on 2s.
“I’ve been saying this team can shoot it,” Banghart said. “I think they are continuing to find their rhythm there. When we play with the pace with our cuts and with the ball, we earn a collapse and play out of it; we’ve got a lot of threats.”
Part of the perimeter shooting plan was developed months ago. North Carolina needed to produce more from the outside.
“I feel like that’s a growth area that we made in the offseason,” Banghart said. “If the ball goes in, your offense looks better.”
Lexi Donarski hit just one of her four attempts on 3-pointers. The one she made resulted in North Carolina’s lone successful 3 in the fourth quarter.
By then, there was no reason for many deep launches.
“They were the right shots,” Banghart said of the team’s 3-point attempts in general. “I didn’t think in the first quarter we took as many of the right shots as we wanted, but as the game wore on and we were really locked in, we did. If we take the right shots, I like our chances.”
North Carolina’s 11 baskets from 3-point range nearly created enough points to match Indiana’s game total.
“Was not our best day,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said. “Was their best day.”
It was another game with points at a premium, coming about 20 hours after North Carolina’s 53–36 handling of Villanova.
On Monday, the Tar Heels scored 19 points across the game’s first 17 minutes, then poured in 13 in a three-minute stretch to end the first half.
The Hoosiers never got going. They managed only seven points across the first 14 minutes of the second half as North Carolina’s lead grew to about 30.
Indiana shot 29.1% from the field, including 4-for-26 on 3s. The Hoosiers had only 13 second-half points.
Seven of North Carolina’s 11 field goals before halftime came from 3-point range. Crisp hit four of those as the Tar Heels led 32-26 at the break.
Ustby and Donarski, who led North Carolina in scoring Sunday against Villanova, were held to a combined two first-half points.
Indiana didn’t attempt a free throw in the opening half. The Hoosiers entered the game with 19 made free throws per game, ending up 3-for-5 at the foul line.
“They were very physical with us,” Moren said. “We didn’t handle that very well.”
Indiana played without starting guard Sydney Parrish, who was injured in the tournament semifinal against Baylor.
This marks the fourth time the Tar Heels have won a tournament in a multi-team event format under Banghart.
“It’s always fun to chase a trophy,” she said.
NOTES — Ustby passed the 1,500-point mark for her career. … Besides the Tar Heels, whose ranking didn’t change from last week in the poll that came out Monday, other ACC teams in this week’s AP poll are Notre Dame (No. 3), Duke (No. 13), N.C. State (No. 20) and Louisville (No. 24). Stanford, Florida State and Miami received points in the poll. … North Carolina is back in action at 2 p.m. Friday against North Carolina Central at Carmichael Arena.
No. 16 UNC 69, Indiana 39
Battle 4 Atlantis
Imperial Arena | Nassau, Bahamas
Saturday’s first-round results
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 results
Semifinals
Indiana 73, No. 18 Baylor 65
No. 16 North Carolina 53, Villanova 36
Consolation bracket
Columbia 85, Southern Miss 66
Ball State 75. Texas A&M 62
Sunday’s games
Championship: No. 16 North Carolina 69, Indiana 39
Third-place game: No. 18 Baylor (4–2) vs. Villanova (4–2), 2:30, ESPNU
Fifth-place game: Columbia vs. Ball State 5 p.m., FloCollege
Seven-place game: Southern Miss vs. Texas A&M, 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 | W, 53–36 | Villanova | 5–1 |
| 25 | Monday | W, 69–39 | Indiana | 6–1 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | 2 p.m. | vs. N.C. Central | ESPN3 |
| December | ||||
| ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge | ||||
| 5 | Thursday | 5 p.m. | vs. No. 14 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. 3 Notre Dame | ESPN |
| 9 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 13 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. 24 Louisville | ESPN |
| 27 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at No. 13 Duke | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Virginia | The CW |
| 5–9 | Wed.–Sun. | ACC tournament First Horizon Coliseum Greensboro |
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics
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