By R.L. Bynum
Boston University (3–5) at No. 11 North Carolina (8–2)
When: 12:02 p.m. Sunday
Where: Carmichael Arena
Officials: Rod Creech, Ryan Durham and Alexis Perez
TV: ACC Network: Angel Gray play-by-play, Kelly Gramlich analyst
Radio: WCHL AM1360, FM 97.9 (Also streaming on the Varsity Network app); Matt Krause play-by-play
Coaches: Melissa Graves (76–59 in fifth season at BU) and Courtney Banghart (387–66 in 19th season; 133–66 in seventh season at UNC)
UNC projected starters: Elina Aarnisalo, Lanie Grant, Indya Nivar, Nyla Harris and Ciera Toomey
Series: UNC won the only previous meeting 75–71 at Carmichael Arena on Jan. 11, 1981; UNC is 12–1 all-time against Patriot League teams.
NET rankings: BU 268, UNC 13
Massey Ratings: BU 300, UNC 22
Torvik rankings: BU 287, UNC 10
Boston University results
Nov. 3: 65–55 loss vs. Quinnipiac
Nov. 7: 52–50 loss vs. Dartmouth
Nov. 11: 61–57 win vs. Northeastern
Nov. 15: 65–58 win at New Haven
Nov. 19: 57–54 loss at Brown
Nov. 22: 50–47 win vs. UMass Lowell
Nov. 26: 83–56 loss vs. Bryant
Monday: 54–45 loss at Maine
Projected Boston University starters
No. 20 | C | Anete Adler (top photo) | 6–5 | senior | Rhode Island transfer in third season at BU
— Team-leading 12.2 points, 46.5 FG%, 78.3 FT%, 5.0 rebounds
— Physical inside presence
No. 12 | G | Bella McLaughlin | 5–8 | junior | Providence transfer in second season at BU
— 7.4 points, 38.2 FG%, 63.0 FT%, 3.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 3.4 turnovers, 1.4 steals
No. 21 | G | Audrey Ericksen | 6–0 | junior
— 6.8 points, 38.1 FG%, 40.7 3P%, 73.3 FT%, 3.6 rebounds
— Was the all-time leader at Cary’s Green Level High School in points (1,086), rebounds (727), assists (250), steals (166) and blocks (144)
No. 18 | G | Hildur Gunnsteinsdóttir | 5–10 | sophomore
— 5.4 points, 48.5 FG%, 38.9 3P%, 55.7 FT%, 2.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists
— Played on Iceland’s U18 National Team
No. 42 | F | Allison Schwertner | 6–3 | sophomore
— 5.2 points, 35.4 FG%, 57.1 FT%, 5.1 rebounds
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Notes
— UNC guard Reniya Kelly wasn’t in uniform for pregame warmups.
— Boston University was picked eighth in the 10-team Patriot League after going 12–19 (5–13 in the league) last season. BU returned four starters.
— The Terriers are only making 33.6% of their 3-point attempts, but Aubrey Ericksen and Inés Monteagudo Pardo have both made 11 of 27 for 40.7% and Hildur Gunnsteinsdóttir is shooting 38.9% (7 of 18) from outside the arc.
— This shapes up as a game that UNC can force lots of turnovers to create transition buckets. BU is averaging 16.3 turnovers per game.
— Carolina has won its last 31 home non-conference games against unranked teams and the last 12 home non-conference games against all teams.
— Senior UNC guard Indya Nivar is tied with Notre Dame’s Hannah Hildalgo for the NCAA lead in steals with 42. She’s averaging 4.2 per game (seventh in the country) and would need to average only 4.0 in the remaining 21 regular-season games to break Linda Matthews’ program record of 127 in 1979. She’s the first player under Banghart with at least four steals in three straight games.
— Louisville transfer Nyla Harris is second among active ACC players in rebounds with 583.
— UNC leads the ACC in field-goal percentage (48.2%; 22nd in the country), is second in 3-point shooting percentage (35.3%; 58th), second in 3-pointers per game (8.4; 44th), second in turnover margin (+6.7; 34th), third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.24; 31st), third in steals per game (11.4; 52nd) and fourth in assists per game (16.6; 49th).
UNC season statistics
Boston University season statistics
Statistical comparison
| Statistic | UNC | BU |
|---|---|---|
| Points per Game | 79.4 | 54.5 |
| FG% | 48.2% | 39.9% |
| 3PT% | 35.3% | 33.6% |
| FT% | 63.5% | 67.3% |
| Rebounds/game | 35.6 | 33.4 |
| Assists/game | 16.6 | 12.1 |
| Blocks/game | 3.5 | 3.3 |
| Steals/game | 11.4 | 5.6 |
| Scoring defense | 58.6 | 59.1 |
| Opponent FG% | 40.3% | 39.3% |
| Opponent 3PT% | 31.3% | 31.0% |
| Rebound Margin | +4.4 | +0.4 |
| Assist/TO ratio | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| 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
| Date | Day/month | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 4 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. 3 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 13 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 No. 22 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 | L, 72–68 | at No. 8 Duke | 21–6, 10–4 |
| 19 | Thursday | W, 66–63, OT | at Virginia Tech | 22–6, 11–4 |
| 22 | Sunday | W, 78–50 | vs. Pittsburgh | 23–6, 12–4 |
| 26 | Thursday | W, 82–70 | at Virginia | 24–6, 13–4 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 72–69 | vs. No. 8 Duke | 25–6, 14–4 |
| ACC tournament | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | |||
| 6 | Friday | W, 85–68 | Quarterfinal vs. Va. Tech | 26–6 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 65–57 | Semifinal vs. No. 13 Louisville | 26–7 |
| NCAA tournament Fort Worth 1 Regional | ||||
| 21 | Friday | W, 82–51 | First round in Chapel Hill: vs. Western Illinois | 27–7 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 74–66 | Second round in Chapel Hill: No. 17 Maryland | 28–7 |
| 27 | Friday | L, 63–52 | Sweet 16 in Fort Worth, Texas: vs. No. 1 UConn | 28–8 |
Photos via goterriers.com
