By R.L. Bynum
GREENSBORO — One day after No. 14 North Carolina got its revenge victory, it was on the other end of the avenging at the hands of No. 7 N.C. State.
The No. 1-seed Wolfpack won their sixth consecutive game since falling at UNC on Feb. 16, taking control with a 21–0 first-half run and rolling to a 66–55 victory over UNC in an ACC tournament semifinal Saturday at First Horizon Coliseum.
UNC coach Courtney Banghart, whose team avenged an earlier loss to Florida State on Friday, had no excuses, only apologies for her team’s play in its third game in as many days.
“[I] have to apologize; we just didn’t play very well,” Banghart said. “You can’t not play well in March. We just didn’t play well enough. I didn’t coach very well. Our players didn’t play very well. That’s just an honest statement.”
After the Tar Heels (27–7) scored only five first-quarter points and went scoreless for nearly 11 first-half minutes, they never came closer than seven points to N.C. State (26–5), which plays Duke, 61–59 winner over Notre Dame in the other semifinal, in Sunday’s 1 p.m. championship game.
“It’s hard to win games when you don’t shoot well,” Banghart said after her team shot a season-low 27.9%. “I don’t even know what it was. [It] felt like we wouldn’t hit water if it fell off a boat.”
Reniya Kelly has always been the engine that drives Carolina’s offense but N.C. State neutralized her, holding Kelly to career-lows of two points and no assists in 15½ minutes. After combining for 27 points in the ACC tournament wins over Louisville and Florida State, Kelly didn’t score her only points until she hit a mid-range jumper with 4:57 left in the third quarter.
“Kelly obviously is a great scorer for them; I thought Saniya [Rivers] did an excellent job defending her,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said.
Maria Gakdeng was one of the few consistent offensive forces for North Carolina, battling physical play from the Wolfpack post players and drawing nine fouls. But even with 10 points and 10 rebounds, the Tar Heels needed to get her the ball more than they did.
“I think every game in the ACC is physical for me,” Gakdeng said. “I’m double-teamed. I’m pushed out of the post. I’m elbowed in the back every game. It’s something I’m used to, but I knew coming into this game as a rivalry we’re playing for a championship game, so playing with a little bit more grit today was a big part of it.”
Indya Nivar, on a career-best run in combining for 46 points in the previous four games, was slow to get going offensively. She had a game-high five steals and tried to rally the Tar Heels, scoring all 13 of her points in the last 6:35 of the game (including eight consecutively) to pull UNC within 10, but it could come no closer.
Alyssa Ustby pulled down eight rebounds, but had only six points and committed a game-high five turnovers. She was one of many Tar Heels who had a tough time finding a rhythm after picking up her second foul in the first quarter.
“Madison [Hayes] did an excellent job with Ustby,” Moore said. “She’s one of the best rebounders ever. I thought Madison did a great job trying to keep her off the boards.”
Banghart and the players avoided talking about the officiating, which clearly frustrated them.
“They started to iso [Ustby] and try to pick up her third and I was liking that they were playing iso ball,” Banghart said. “So I was like, ‘All right, if I keep her in, you’ll play iso ball, that works, because I trust her that she’ll play straight up.’ I’m not going to comment on that. I don’t need to be fined.”
Aziaha James collected 19 points and 9 rebounds to lead the Pack.
“Aziaha, she’s primetime,” Moore said. “She loves the big stage and plays well when she’s in those situations. Heck, these kids, they all went down against [a lot] — Saniya has been battling the flu all week.”
UNC scored the game’s first five points on a Gakdeng layup and Ustby 3-pointer but freshman N.C. State center Tilda Trygger scored the next eight points, including a 3-pointer, to give State an 8–5 lead.
That started a 16–0 run to end the first quarter as UNC went 2 of 11 in the period and didn’t score for the last 8:24. The five first-quarter points tied a season-low for a quarter, set Friday in the second quarter of the Tar Heels’ 60–56 quarterfinal win over Florida State.
“I feel like when we play together, we’re good, and we made some runs back,” said graduate guard Lexi Donarski, who scored nine points and two 3-pointers. “I feel like I try to get as much out of my teammates as I can, so when we’re getting down, I’m trying to get the energy out of everyone. I don’t think it’s frustration, I think it’s more motivation and trying to bring us all together.”
A James 3-pointer capped a 21–0 Wolfpack run with 7:48 left in the first half. UNC missed 12 consecutive shots and went on the longest scoring drought of the season, nearly 11 minutes, before Lanie Grant’s 3-pointer with 7:33 left in the first half cut State’s lead to 22–8.
State pushed the lead to 17 before UNC went on a 9–2 run that Grace Townsend capped with a driving three-point play to trim the lead to 10. Townsend’s twisting layup with nine seconds left capped a 5–0 UNC run to cut the Wolfpack’s halftime lead to 33–26.
N.C. State scored the first 10 points of the second half, taking a 14-point lead on Hayes’ 3-pointer with 5:53 left in the third quarter. The Wolfpack’s lead was 17 entering the final quarter, 54–37, after Rivers’ jumper with 36 left in the third quarter.
The Wolfpack lead reached 19 points early in the fourth quarter before Nivar scored eight consecutive points to slice State’s lead to 10 after a pair of free throws with 4:02 left.
UNC went without a field goal for the last 4:54.
NOTES — ESPN’s Charlie Creme, in a Saturday morning projection, has UNC as a No. 4 seed, hosting the first two rounds in a Spokane Regional. … The five first-quarter points matched the season-low of five in the second quarter Friday against Florida State. … Carolina’s previous worst shooting game was 32.1% in the Jan 9 home win over Duke. … UNC’s 55 points is a season-low in games against teams other than Duke, which held the Tar Heels to 53 points in both games. … UNC has lost its last two semifinal games, the previous one a 66–61 setback against Duke in 2014. … N.C. State leads UNC 8–7 in ACC tournament meetings and leads the all-time series 65–57. … UNC is 3–8 under Banghart at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex.
No. 8 N.C. State 66, No. 14 UNC 55
ACC tournament
First Horizon Coliseum | Greensboro
Wednesday’s first round
No. 12 Boston College 76, No. 13 Syracuse 73
No. 10 Virginia 64, No. 15 Pittsburgh 50
No. 14 Clemson 63, No. 11 Stanford 46
Thursday’s second round
No. 5 (No. 14 ranked) North Carolina 78, Boston College 71
No. 8 Georgia Tech 72, No. 9 Virginia Tech 57
No. 7 California 75, Virginia 58
No. 6 Louisville 70, Clemson 68, OT
Friday’s quarterfinals
North Carolina 60, No. 4 (No. 22 ranked) Florida State 56
No. 1 (No. 7 ranked) N.C. State 73, Georgia Tech 72
No. 2 (No. 6 ranked) Notre Dame 73, California 64
No. 3 (No. 11 ranked) Duke 61, Louisville 48
Saturday’s semifinals (ESPN2)
N.C. State 66, North Carolina 55
Duke 61, Notre Dame 56
Sunday’s championship
N.C. State (26–5) vs. Duke (25–7), 1 p.m., ESPN
| 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. 3 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 | W, 119–43 | vs. N.C. Central | 7–1 |
| December | ||||
| ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge | ||||
| 5 | Thursday | W, 72–53 | vs. No. 12 Kentucky | 8–1 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 8 | Sunday | W, 72–46 | vs. Coppin State | 9–1 |
| 11 | Wednesday | W, 80–56 | vs. UNCG | 10–1 |
| 15 | Sunday | L, 82–76 | vs. Georgia Tech | 10–2, 0–1 ACC |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 77–57 | vs. Florida | 11–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 21 | Saturday | W, 90–47 | vs. Norfolk State | 12–2 |
| ACC season | ||||
| 29 | Sunday | W, 69–60 | at Miami | 13–2, 1–1 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 5 | Sunday | L, 76–66 | vs. No. 6 Notre Dame | 13–3, 1–2 |
| 9 | Thursday | W, 53–46, OT | vs. No. 11 Duke | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 80–67 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 3–2 |
| 16 | Thursday | W, 64–33 | at SMU | 16–3, 4–2 |
| 19 | Sunday | W, 75–58 | at Pitt | 17–3, 5–2 |
| 23 | Thursday | W, 76–51 | vs. Wake Forest | 18–3, 6–2 |
| 26 | Sunday | L, 86–84 | vs. No. 22 Florida State | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 30 | Thursday | W, 65–52 | at California | 19–4, 7–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Sunday | W, 69–67 | at Stanford | 20–4, 8–3 |
| 9 | Sunday | W, 53–51 | at Clemson | 21–4, 9–3 |
| 13 | Thursday | W, 67–62 | vs. Virginia Tech | 22–4, 10–3 |
| 16 | Sunday | W, 66–65 | vs. No. 7 N.C. State | 23–4, 11–3 |
| 20 | Thursday | W, 68–58 | at Syracuse | 24–4, 12–3 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 79–75 | at Louisville | 25–4, 13–3 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 68–53 | at No. 11 Duke | 25–5, 13–4 |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Sunday | L, 78–75 | vs. Virginia | 25–6, 13–5 |
| ACC tournament Greensboro | ||||
| 6 | Thursday | W, 78–71 | Third round: Boston College | 26–6 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 60–56 | Quarterfinals: vs. No. 22 Florida State | 27–6 |
| 8 | Saturday | L, 66–55 | Semifinals: vs. No. 7 N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21–22 | Fri.-Sat. | First round At campus sites | ||
| 23–24 | Sun.-Mon. | Second round At campus sites | ||
| 28–29 | Fri.-Sat. | Sweet 16 Spokane, Birmingham | ||
| 30–31 | Sun.-Mon. | Elite Eight Spokane, Birmingham | ||
| April | ||||
| 4, 6 | Fri., Sun. | Final Four Tampa, Fla. |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
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