By R.L. Bynum
CLEMSON, S.C. — The road resembled Easy Street for No. 13 North Carolina most of the season until the Tar Heels veered into a path full of potholes Sunday, including a self-inflicted one at the end.
The Tigers had lost seven of their previous eight games but didn’t play like it. Add to that UNC’s offensive struggles and poor shooting, and it produced a much more challenging-than-expected 53–51 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum.
“You’ve got to win a lot of different ways in a conference as hard as this, and to win ugly is part of it,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “And today, we won ugly.”
UNC (21–4, 9–3 ACC) is 7–0 on the road, its best road start since the 2005–06 team won all 12 road games, finished 33–2 and made the Final Four. The Tar Heels are one of three teams in the country undefeated on the road.
“The fact that they’re undefeated on the road, it shows that defense travels,” Banghart said. “It shows an enormous amount of toughness and togetherness, which I think really does speak to our team.”
Needing late roadside assistance, the driver of Carolina’s offense was again Reniya Kelly, whose short jumper on a late-shot-clock drive with 40.2 seconds left gave UNC its final margin of victory. Kelly finished with a team-high 17 points to go with a career-high eight rebounds and three assists.
But freshman guard Lanie Grant gave Clemson an extra chance to tie the game or win it in the final minute.
With UNC clinging to that two-point lead, Clemson’s Hannah Kohn missed a 3-point attempt with 25.4 seconds left. Kelly snagged the rebound and barely stayed inbounds to give UNC possession.
But, after a timeout, Grant dribbled toward the wrong side of the court, leading to a half-court violation and giving Clemson the ball with 23.5 seconds left.
“Lexi [Donarski] looked at me, Reniya, and all of them were like, ‘It’s OK, coach, we’ll get a stop,’ ” Banghart said. “And that’s what this team’s about, right? One mistake doesn’t drown us.”
Kelly came to the rescue again, snagging the inbound pass after it was deflected by Donarski and Maria Gadkdeng.
“When she took off, I’m like, ‘Wait a second, this is wrong,’ ” Clemson coach Shawn Poppie said of Grant’s mistake. “We were all kind of thrown off, even the referee. I have never seen that. I really wish we would have taken advantage of it.”
When Grant came off the court after her mistake, Banghart’s first words were that her teammates would make fun of her as a result. When the game was over and, much to Grant’s relief, her mistake hadn’t cost UNC the game, she was smiling as she walked off the court.
“I told Lanie after the game that I trust you enough to have you in,” Banghart said. “You’ve made a lot of big free throws for us this year. We knew they had to foul. I trust you enough to be in, and it’s going to take a whole lot more than that to make me lose my trust in you.”
Banghart’s trust in Kelly continues to soar. Kelly seemed determined not to let Carolina be an upset victim on the same court where Clemson’s men’s team took down No. 2 Duke the night before.
“She plays the hardest position on the floor, and it takes a lot of communication and connection between coach and player and trust for her to run our team,” Banghart said. “I trust her, and she continues to deliver on both ends. And then I asked her to rebound more, and she did that, too. … There’s a real, clear sense of what we need from her, and she trusts the work, and she’s becoming a lot of people’s favorite for good reason.”
In a game where Carolina was 3 of 18 from 3-point range, Kelly — who scored two threes — assessed the situation when Carolina had to have a bucket with the score tied late.
“Obviously, the three wasn’t going at first,” said Kelly, who has scored double-digit points in four consecutive games, “so I need to touch paint a lot more, get to my pull-up. The pull-up was just there. I feel like the post players can’t really guard me, so I think just attacking that post player was the best option.”
Carolina was sloppy with 14 turnovers, but the Tar Heels dominated the boards 42–25, led by 13 rebounds from Alyssa Ustby, who scored eight points. Gakdeng, at times matched up with former teammate Anya Poole, collected 12 points and nine rebounds.
Grace Townsend had another huge game off the bench with eight points, three rebounds and two steals. She and Kelly played together for many minutes on Sunday.
“I thought, in this particular game, Grace brought an aggressiveness at the rim that we really needed,” Banghart said. “She attacked off the dribble and put pressure on the defense, which we needed. We were kind of playing a little bit around the arc a little bit too much, and she does a really good job attacking.”
Banghart said having Townsend take over some of the point guard duties allowed Kelly to rest a bit while still playing.
Poppie said Poole’s knowledge of Banghart’s system was helpful as he scouted the Tar Heels.
“She gave us some of that knowledge, which I felt was helpful,” Poppie said of Poole, who had two points and one rebound in 11 minutes. “I thought she had little nuances of just what each kid may try to do they — she likes to break a play here compared to what the normal set supposed to be. So she gave us that knowledge. But I also think it took her attention off being an emotional game where you put so much pressure on yourself.”
UNC led early by four points, but Clemson scored four 3-pointers — two each from Kohn and Maddi Cluse — in a 12–3 run to take a five-point lead. A Grant jumper cut UNC’s deficit to 15–12 heading to the second quarter after the Tar Heels shot 22.2% in the opening quarter.
After Clemson (11–13, 4–9) made 4 of 8 3-point attempts in the first quarter, it was only 2 of 10 the rest of the way.
Clemson went nearly eight minutes without a field goal, but UNC also went scoreless for six minutes. That allowed the Tigers to take a three-point lead on a Loyal McQueen bucket with 1:42 left. Kelly ended the Tar Heels’ scoring drought with a 3-pointer with 2:12 left in the first half, and her jumper with six seconds left cut Clemson’s halftime lead to 25–22.
Carolina opened the second half with a 9–0 run — six of those points at the free-throw line — to take a three-point lead with 5:56 left in the third quarter. Clemson had a pair of one-point leads before a transition Ustby layup gave UNC a 37–36 lead entering the fourth quarter.
A driving layup late in the shot clock and a jumper by Grace Townsend during a 7–2 UNC run 2½ minutes into the final period put the Heels up by five. Clemson quickly tied it with a Kohn 3-pointer and a Cluse layup on a baseline out-of-bounds play.
Two driving Townsend layups pushed UNC’s lead to four. Three Kohn free throws and a Madi Ott 3-pointer put Clemson up by two before a Gakdeng layup with two minutes left tied it before Kelly’s game-winning bucket.
McQueen led three Clemson players to score in double figures with 17 points.
NOTES — Carolina plays its first home game in 18 days on Thursday, facing Virginia Tech. The Hokies (16–8, 7–6) rolled to an 87–62 victory Sunday at Virginia. … UNC tied its season-low point total, which it also scored in a 53–36 win over Villanova on Nov. 24 and a 53–36 overtime win on Jan. 9 over Duke. … Carolina fell one spot in the NET rankings to 14th after Sunday’s win. … There were 10 ties and 12 lead changes. … Ustby passed Marion Jones (1,716 points; 1994–95, 1997) for 16th on the all-time UNC scoring list with 1,718 points. … UNC guard Tray Crisp missed her eighth consecutive game with a lower-body injury. … UNC has won the last nine meetings with the Tigers and leads the series 64–28, including 21–15 at Clemson. … Chancellor Lee Roberts, Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham and a large contingent of UNC fans were at the game. … Because of Saturday night’s men’s basketball game, UNC didn’t get into Littlejohn Coliseum until 12:30 Sunday afternoon.
No. 13 UNC 53, Clemson 51
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 7 Louisville | 9–0 | 19–3 | 9 |
| No. 20 Duke | 9–0 | 14–6 | 14 |
| N.C. State | 7–2 | 14–6 | 25 |
| North Carolina | 6–3 | 17–5 | 20 |
| Virginia Tech | 6–3 | 16–5 | 42 |
| Syracuse | 6–3 | 16–4 | 41 |
| Virginia | 6–3 | 14–6 | 37 |
| Clemson | 5–4 | 14–7 | 40 |
| Notre Dame | 5–4 | 13–7 | 30 |
| Stanford | 4–4 | 15–6 | 36 |
| Miami | 4–5 | 12–8 | 47 |
| Georgia Tech | 4–5 | 9–12 | 91 |
| California | 3–5 | 12–9 | 56 |
| Wake Forest | 2–7 | 12–9 | 122 |
| Florida State | 2–7 | 7–14 | 107 |
| SMU | 1–8 | 8–13 | 176 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–8 | 8–14 | 261 |
| Boston College | 0–9 | 4–18 | 256 |
* — Through Wednesday games
Thursday’s games
Virginia at Wake Forest, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Pittsburgh at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Georgia Tech at Syracuse, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Boston College, 6 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at Clemson, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
No. 7 Louisville at Stanford, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 20 Duke at Miami, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Notre Dame at California, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Sunday’s games
Wake Forest at No. 20 Duke, noon, ACC Network
No 7 Louisville at California, 1 p.m.
Virginia at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Syracuse at Miami, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Boston College at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Notre Dame at Stanford, 4 p.m.
Florida State at Clemson, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Monday’s game
North Carolina at N.C. State, 6 p.m., ESPN2
Thursday, Feb. 5, games
Syracuse at Boston College, 6 p.m.
Stanford at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Clemson at North Carolina, 6 p.m., ACC Network
No. 20 Duke at No. 7 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN
Virginia Tech at Notre Dame, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Miami at Virginia, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
California at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Wake Forest at SMU, 7:30, ACCN Extra
Florida State at N.C. State, 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. 78 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 | 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 No. 20 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. 20 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 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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