By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina showed the women’s basketball world on Thursday that the Tar Heels are one of the country’s best teams.
With balanced scoring, dominant inside play and relentless defense, the No. 16 Tar Heels earned an early-season signature victory by handing No. 14 Kentucky its first loss, 72–53, in the ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge.
“I’m really happy for our team,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said after the Heels’ fifth consecutive win and first over a non-conference ranked team at home since 2014. “It’s fun to think about how good you can be, but you don’t get there by thinking about it. You get there by doing it. And this group really likes one another.”
Point guard Reniya Kelly (season-high 18 points, 3 3-pointers, career-high 6 assists and game-high +28) deftly ran the offense, center Maria Gakdeng (season-high 16 points, team-high 9 rebounds, 2 blocks) was productive inside and wing and Alyssa Ustby (13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists) was at the top of her game.
“We just wore them down,” Banghart said. “I thought we defended them really well the whole game.
Carolina’s defense stifled the Wildcats (7–1), holding them to season-lows for points (the previous low was in a 71–61 overtime win over No. 22 Louisville) and field-goal percentage (35.2%; the previous low was 40.3%). UNC forced Kentucky out of their offense and into “plan B,” then shut that down, too.
Banghart knew former Virginia Tech guard Georgia Amoore was a prolific shooter and distributor. Banghart changed the ball-screen coverage to two-on-two, holding her to 10 points, all in the first half, although she had a game-high eight assists, with Kelly and Lexi Donarski taking turns guarding her.
Carolina (8–1) shot 47.5% from the floor against a Kentucky team that came into the game leading the country in field-goal percentage defense at 29.6%. Banghart said the key was making the Wildcats’ tall players — 6–5 former Virginia Tech center Clara Strack, 6–3 forward Amelia Hassett and 6–4 former UNC forward Teonni Key — move.
It was a combination of UNC’s post players getting up on the chest of that trio and creating opportunities off the dribble and cuts with zoom actions.
“These guys really execute the plan really well,” Banghart said.
Gakdeng is in a groove after missing the entire Battle 4 Atlantis, scoring a point a minute and being more aggressive offensively. She was a big reason why UNC had a 42–10 edge in the paint against Kentucky and have scored 112 paint points in the last two games, tied for the second-most under Banghart.
“As efficient as I am, I think I do deserve to take more shots, so our guards getting the ball inside more has been really effective with that,” said Gakdeng, who made 7 of 9 shots on the offensive end. On defense, she held former Hokies center Clara Strack, averaging 18.3 points a game, to four points.
“They’re really big, long team, and each player is a little different, so knowing how to defend them and keeping them to a limited amount of points [was the goal],” Gakdeng said.
When Carolina needed to drop the hammer to put away the Wildcats, Kelly was a big part of that with 15 points, two 3-pointers, three assists and two rebounds in the second half.
“We shared the ball really well,” said Kelly, who made all three 3-point attempts. “Their long players were moving, and we got to attack the gap a lot and get to the lane.”
Banghart called Kelly a distributor and the quintessential point guard.
“She’s able to find people,” Banghart said. “I think when they really challenged her to finish, she did that.”
Ciera Toomey (6 points, 2 3-pointers, 4 rebounds) and Tray Crisp (8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) had big games off the bench for UNC.
“Multiple times throughout the game, we’re telling them at time outs, ‘They can’t keep up this pace,’ ” Banghart said of Kentucky, who only had seven players play double-digit minutes. “Our bench has given us a ton of opportunities to play fresher longer and to have more people to go to, and they all play a little different, which is what we wanted when we built this team.”
If Donarski had a game in which she scored only three points, as was the case Thursday, it would have been tough for last season’s team to overcome. The depth gives the Tar Heels so many weapons that that sort of game is much more easily overcome, but she still was +25.
“It’s nice to have more options of people that can shoot. She was really guarded tight last year. And now, if you do that, you’re going to open up somebody else,” Banghart said.
Banghart got the best of the latest battle with former Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks, in his first season at Kentucky, ending a five-game skid against him. She deflected any talk of “making it about coaches,” focusing on her team’s performance.
Last season, UNC had a habit of blowing leads but it didn’t happen to this team on this night.
UNC opened the game with a 14–4 run, going up by 10 on a 3-pointer from Ustby, who outscored Kentucky until the last three minutes of the opening quarter with seven points. Kentucky scored the last 10 points of the first quarter to slice the Tar Heels’ lead, once 15, to 21–16.
Amoore’s jumper with 3:46 left in the half cut Kentucky’s deficit to four, but UNC finished the first half with a 9–2 run to lead 36–25 at halftime. Toomey scored two of the Tar Heels’ four first-half 3-pointers.
After Kelly’s 3 stretched the lead to 14, Kentucky scored seven points in a row to cut the lead in half. UNC responded with a 9–3 run, shoving the lead to 12 on a Donarski 3-pointer with 1:30 left in the third quarter. The Heels took a 50–39 lead into the fourth quarter and expanded it to 16 in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
A Dazia Lawrence 3-pointer pulled the Cats within nine with 5:52 left, but six consecutive free throws (four from Kelly) started a 12–2 run to finish the game.
Lawrence led Kentucky with 17 points and Hassett had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
NOTES — UNC is back at Carmichael Arena at 2 p.m. Sunday to face Coppin State (6–4) in the second of five consecutive home games. The Eagles, who beat Arizona State 74–68 in a Thursday night home overtime game, have played a tough schedule, losing to No. 4 South Carolina 92–60, No. 7 Maryland 70–47 and Virginia Tech 86–51. Coppin State is picked to finish third in the MEAC. … Ustby, honored alongside her parents and brother before the game for eclipsing the 1,500-points and 1,000-rebounds marks, moved to 25th on the program scoring list at 1,539 points. … Gakdeng passed 1,000 career points. … Donarski has scored a 3-pointer in 16 consecutive games. … Carolina is 31–2 in non-conference home games under Banghart. … After UNC attempted only one free throw in the first three quarters, it was 9 of 13 at the line in the fourth quarter. … It was Banghart’s first win over Brooks since a 71–46 win on Jan. 9, 2022,and her 11th win over a top-15 team at UNC. … UNC leads the series with Kentucky 6–1, including 3–0 in Carmichael Arena, after earning its first victory over an SEC school since beating Missouri 82–69 on Nov. 29, 2019, in the Cancun Challenge to end a five-game losing streak against that league. … Blanca Thomas, Laila Hull, Jordan Zubich and Sydney Barker were all in uniform and available but didn’t play.
No. 16 UNC 72, No. 14 Ky. 53
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 11 Duke | 13–0 | 18–6 | 9 |
| No. 9 Louisville | 13–1 | 23–4 | 8 |
| No. 21 North Carolina | 10–3 | 21–5 | 19 |
| N.C. State | 10–3 | 17–7 | 23 |
| Syracuse | 10–4 | 20–5 | 38 |
| Virginia Tech | 9–5 | 19–7 | 44 |
| Clemson | 9–5 | 18–8 | 39 |
| Virginia | 9–5 | 17–8 | 37 |
| Notre Dame | 7–6 | 15–9 | 29 |
| California | 7–6 | 16–10 | 51 |
| Georgia Tech | 6–8 | 11–15 | 86 |
| Stanford | 5–8 | 16–10 | 43 |
| Miami | 4–9 | 12–12 | 57 |
| Florida State | 4–9 | 9–16 | 106 |
| Wake Forest | 3–11 | 13–13 | 123 |
| SMU | 1–12 | 8–17 | 195 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–12 | 8–18 | 259 |
| Boston College | 0–14 | 4–23 | 252 |
* — Through Thursdsay games
Thursday’s results
No. 21 North Carolina 94, SMU 42
Syracuse 84, Pittsburgh 51
Florida State 85, Boston College 76
No. 9 Louisville 86, Wake Forest 67
Clemson 67, Georgia Tech 65, 2 OTs
California 64, Virginia 58
Virginia Tech 79, Stanford 67
Sunday’s games
Pittsburgh at SMU, noon, ACC Network
Miami at Boston College, noon, ACCN Extra
No. 21 North Carolina at No. 11 Duke, 1 p.m., ABC
Virginia at Stanford, 2 p.m., The CW
Clemson at Syracuse, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Notre Dame, 4 p.m., ESPN
Virginia Tech at California, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Florida State at No. 6 Louisville, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Thursday’s games
No. 21 North Carolina at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Notre Dame at Wake Forest, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Georgia Tech at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
California at Florida State, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
N.C. State at No. 11 Duke, 7 p.m., ESPN
Boston College at SMU, 7:30, ACCN Extra
Stanford at Miami, 8 p.m., ACC Network
| 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. 2 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. 4 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 9 Louisville | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 84–34 | vs. UNCW | 10–3 |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 93–74 | vs. Charleston Southern | 11–3 |
| 29 | Monday | W, 90–38 | at Boston College | 12–3, 1–1 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | W, 71–55 | vs. California | 13–3, 2–1 |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 77–71, OT | vs. Stanford | 13–4, 2–2 |
| 11 | Sunday | L, 73–50 | at Notre Dame | 13–5, 2–3 |
| 15 | Thursday | W, 73–62 | vs. Miami | 14–5, 3–3 |
| 18 | Sunday | W, 82–55 | at Florida State | 15–5, 4–3 |
| 22 | Thursday | W, 54–46 | at Georgia Tech | 16–5, 5–3 |
| 25 | Sunday | W, 77–71, OT | vs. Syracuse | 17–5, 6–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 61–59 | at N.C. State | 18–5, 7–3 |
| 5 | Thursday | W, 53–44 | vs. Clemson | 19–5, 8–3 |
| 8 | Sunday | W, 84–56 | vs. Wake Forest | 20–5, 9–3 |
| 12 | Thursday | W, 94–42 | vs. SMU | 21–5, 10–3 |
| 15 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at No. 11 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. No. 11 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 |
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics
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