By R.L. Bynum
Carolina finished off a dominant week at the Cancun Challenge on Saturday with another one-sided victory, led by huge days from Lanie Grant and Ciera Toomey.
After winning their first two games by 35 points and 12 points, the Tar Heels pulled away from a close game in the second half. The 80–63 victory over Columbia at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, earned UNC the tournament title.
The three wins came against teams that reached the Sweet 16 (Kansas State) or won their leagues last season (Columbia and South Dakota State).
“We knew it was going to be a real challenge, and we had to win a different way [Saturday],” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “This group is growing up pretty quick. We certainly found a way in each of those games.”
Grant played well at both ends, matching her career-high with 19 points while playing tough defense on Riley Weiss. After the Columbia star combined for 61 points in its first two Cancun games, she was scoreless in the first quarter before finishing with a team-high 21.
Toomey (five rebounds) scored 11 of her 18 points after halftime to help the Tar Heels pull away from the Lions (4–4).
“They both made a big impact on the game, scoring inside and out,” Banghart said.
Tournament MVP Indya Nivar fouled out with 1:25 left with 11 points, and had team-highs of six rebounds, six assists and six steals. Guard Elina Aarnisalo scored a season-high 15 points.
Defense again was huge for UNC (8–1), as the Tar Heels scored 20 points off 21 turnovers (including 14 steals), and have forced at least 20 turnovers in five of the last six games.
“We had to really lean on our defense,” Banghart said, noting how the steals changed the tempo of the game.
“Defensively, [we] had to play through a ton of contact,” she said. “We had to defend a little bit different. [Friday] was a ton of ball screens; [Saturday] was a ton of one-on-one. So, it was really different, two very, very contrasting styles.”
UNC took its first lead with an 8–0 run that Aarnisalo and Grant started with back-to-back 3-pointers, going up 12–6 as the Lions were scoreless for nearly four minutes.
Carolina held a 12–9 lead after the first quarter, and stretched the lead to six on a Grant bucket to end a 7–2 run to start the second quarter.
Banghart noted the team’s offensive shift after a slow start.
“Offensively, in the first quarter, you come out 36% from the floor. In the first 10 minutes through the second and third quarters, you go 20 for 29 — that’s a 69% success rate,” Banghart said. “What changed? We just were far more aggressive. I felt like we came out a little bit slow, and then we kind of put the foot on the gas, and things got much better for us.”
A Weiss four-point play capped a 12–3 Lions run to take a 29–26 lead on a Susie Rafiu layup at 2:36 of the second quarter. Weiss scored eight second-quarter points.
The teams traded leads before a Toomey driving three-point play began a 5–0 run, as UNC held a 35–31 halftime lead after forcing 10 turnovers.
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Carolina opened the second half with a 6–3 run to go up by six on an Aarnisalo bucket. After a Weiss jumper, the UNC edge was cut to two at 5:29 of the third quarter.
UNC went scoreless for 3 minutes, 18 seconds before Toomey scored five points on a 9–2 run to take a nine-point lead on an Aarnisalo drive with 1:12 left in the third quarter.
A Nyla Harris jumper gave Carolina a 57–49 lead after three quarters and started a 6–0 run to push the edge to 12 on her jumper in the first two minutes of the final quarter. A 3-pointer and layup from Nivar capped a 9–0 UNC run to take a 19-point lead with 4½ minutes left.
Notes
—UNC gets five days off before visiting No. 4 Texas (7–0) at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2) in the ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge. The Longhorns beat No. 2 South Carolina 66–61 in Las Vegas on Thursday after beating No. 3 UCLA 76–65 on Wednesday. The Longhorns host Penn at 2 p.m. Sunday (SEC Network).
—This was the first meeting between UNC and Columbia, and the first game against an Ivy League team since losing 66–63 to Yale on Dec. 28, 2019.
—In Saturday’s first game, South Dakota State beat Kansas State 82–70.
—Nivar’s six steals gave her 40 for the season.
—UNC has scored at least 80 points for six consecutive games for the first time since February 2014.
—Carolina shot a season-worst 43.8% (7 of 16) at the free throw line and shot 65.6% (25 for 38) at the line in three Cancun games. The previous worst was 46.7% against South Dakota State in the Heels’ Cancun opener.
—After tying the program record of 14 3-pointers against Kansas State, UNC only attempted 12 shots from outside the arc against Columbia, making five.
—Taliyah Henderson (4 points) played after not getting into the Kansas State game.
—Taissa Queiroz, Blanca Thomas, Liza Astakhova, Jordan Zubich and Sydney Baker didn’t play. There was no media access for the opportunity to ask about the status of those players after any of the three games in Cancun.
— Harris came off the bench for all three Cancun games with Grant starting.
— With Columbia held to nine first-quarter points, Carolina has held opponents to single-digit points in a quarter 11 times in nine games.
—In multi-team events, UNC is 13–2 under Banghart.
—Carolina is 5–0 in the Cancun Challenge after going 2–0 in 2019.
No. 12 UNC 80, Columbia 63
| Team | League | Overall | NET* | WAB* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 13 Duke | 16–2 | 21–8 | 10 | 13 |
| No. 12 Louisville | 15–3 | 25–6 | 13 | 10 |
| No. 16 North Carolina | 14–4 | 25–6 | 19 | 14 |
| N.C. State | 13–5 | 20–9 | 23 | 27 |
| Syracuse | 12–6 | 22–7 | 40 | 31 |
| Virginia Tech | 12–6 | 22–8 | 41 | 34 |
| Notre Dame | 12–6 | 20–9 | 24 | 23 |
| Clemson | 11–7 | 20–10 | 44 | 40 |
| Virginia | 11–7 | 19–10 | 36 | 49 |
| California | 9–9 | 18–13 | 53 | 60 |
| Stanford | 8–10 | 19–12 | 42 | 56 |
| Miami | 8–10 | 16–13 | 58 | 65 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–10 | 12–17 | 76 | 109 |
| Florida State | 5–13 | 10–20 | 107 | 138 |
| Wake Forest | 4–14 | 14–16 | 121 | 134 |
| SMU | 2–16 | 9–21 | 220 | 209 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–17 | 8–23 | 262 | 238 |
| Boston College | 1–17 | 5–26 | 247 | 283 |
* — Through Sunday games
Thursday’s results
No. 16 North Carolina 82, Virginia 70
No. 12 Louisville 69, Georgia Tech 50
Notre Dame 72, Syracuse 62
Miami 79, Pittsburgh 58
N.C. State 65, Wake Forest 58
No. 13 Duke 80, Florida State 52
Stanford 87, SMU 57
Clemson 70, California 63
Sunday’s results
No. 16 North Carolina 74, No. 13 Duke 69
Virginia Tech 83, Virginia 82
Georgia Tech 79, Miami 49
N.C. State 93, Pittsburgh 43
Stanford 85, Clemson 50
Syracuse 90, Boston College 65
Notre Dame 65, No. 12 Louisville 62
Florida State 77, Wake Forest 74, OT
California 78, SMU 34
End of regular season
ACC tournament
Gas South Arena
Duluth, Ga.
March 4–8
UNC schedule
| Date | Day/ month | Time | Opponent/event (rank in final poll) |
|---|---|---|---|
| October | |||
| 18 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Davidson (exhibition) |
| November | |||
| 2 | Monday | TBA | Oui-Play in Paris vs. No 12 Oklahoma |
| 8 | Sunday | 5:30 | Ally Tipoff in Charlotte vs. No. 2 South Carolina |
| 11 | Wednesday | TBA | vs. N.C. Central |
| 14 | Saturday | TBA | at Penn in Palestra |
| WBCA Showcase | Orlando | ||
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. Texas Tech |
| 21 | Saturday | 5 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Alabama |
| ——— | |||
| 24 | Tuesday | TBA | vs. Gardner-Webb |
| 27 | Friday | TBA | vs. Army |
| 29 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Brown |
| December | |||
| 2 | Wednesday | TBA | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge vs. No. 8 LSU |
| 6 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Elon |
| 9 | Wednesday | 11 a.m. | vs. Winthrop |
| 13 | Sunday | TBA | vs. N.C. State |
| 17 | Thursday | TBA | vs. Georgia Tech |
| 21 | Monday | TBA | vs. Norfolk State |
| 28 | Monday | TBA | vs. UNCW |
| 31 | Thursday | TBA | at Syracuse |
| January | |||
| 3 | Sunday | TBA | at Clemson |
| 7 | Thursday | TBA | vs. Wake Forest |
| 10 | Sunday | TBA | at No. 11 Louisville |
| 17 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Boston College |
| 21 | Thursday | TBA | at California |
| 24 | Sunday | TBA | at Stanford |
| 28 | Thursday | TBA | vs. No. 9 Notre Dame |
| 31 | Sunday | TBA | vs. No. 5 Duke |
| February | |||
| 4 | Thursday | TBA | at Miami |
| 7 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Virginia Tech |
| 14 | Sunday | TBA | at SMU |
| 18 | Thursday | TBA | at Pittsburgh |
| 21 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Florida State |
| 25 | Thursday | TBA | vs. No. 19 Virginia |
| 28 | Sunday | TBA | at No. 5 Duke |
| March | |||
| 3–7 | Wed.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics
