By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — With the way No. 12 North Carolina played, Coach Courtney Banghart felt fortunate her Tar Heels even had a chance to win.
“We just didn’t play very well,” Banghart said after the Tar Heels’ 76–66 overtime loss to No. 22 Louisville in their ACC opener Sunday at Carmichael Arena. “Obviously, had chances to win it, both in regulation and in overtime. It’s a young team, and that’s where it shows the most.”
Not only did they have a chance, but a UNC victory in the ACC was well within its grasp thanks to freshman Taliyah Henderson, who scored all 13 of her points in the last 12½ minutes of regulation.
But after the Tar Heels blew a chance to win in regulation, Carolina missed all seven shots to go scoreless in overtime.
Poor free-throw shooting has plagued UNC (9–3, 0–1 ACC) all season, and their fifth game shooting 60% or worse (58.3%) was costly. With Carolina leading by one with 5.4 seconds left in regulation, Indya Nivar missed two free throws, then Carolina made a tactical mistake.
Banghart confirmed the plan was to foul in the backcourt on Louisville’s final possession of regulation since UNC had two fouls to give. Instead, Imari Berry got near the rim, and Lanie Grant fouled her in the act of shooting. Berry split a pair of free throws with 0.4 seconds left to force overtime.
“We played tired most of the day,” Banghart said. “When they needed to make shots, they did, and when we needed to make shots, we didn’t.”
Nyla Harris, who scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds against her former team, said the Tar Heels let Louisville dictate the overtime.
“We just let them run through their plays. We looked very uncomfortable,” she said. “That was a big difference. I think this is a great game to have as an ACC opener. Every single night is going to come down to who’s tougher, who can execute better.”
Louisville’s defense disrupted UNC’s backcourt, as Elina Aarnisalo and Reniya Kelly combined for 1-of-15 shooting.
“Our shot quality wasn’t great, quite honestly,” she said. “We just didn’t play well enough.”
Louisville coach Jeff Walz credited his team’s defensive discipline for limiting Carolina’s drives.
“I thought we did a pretty good job, as the game went on, of not swatting down on drives,” he said. “They were doing a really nice job of trying to get to the basket, and then would spin back and we did not swat down and give them an easy two points.”
Walz had coached against Aarnisalo when he was an assistant coach for the Türkiye national team, and knew stopping her would be important.
“I was so impressed with how she can get by people, how she creates,” Walz said. “And I thought we did a really nice job of staying in front of her and making her take some tough shots. When she gets loose, she’s good. She’s really, really good. So I just thought defensively, we did a really nice job.”
Henderson led four Tar Heels in double figures, including Ciera Toomey (12 points, two 3-pointers and eight rebounds), Grant (10 points) and Nivar (10 points).
Henderson was perfect from the floor, making all five shots, including three 3-pointers, but the rest of the team was 8 of 26 from outside the arc.
Banghart said what impressed her most was Henderson’s competitiveness.
“She’s got a ton of courage,” Banghart said. “She texted me after a rough practice and asked to watch film. That’s just who she is: really committed to getting better.”
UNC only led for 84 seconds, trailing by as many as 10 points, and a big reason that the Tar Heels stayed in the game was the relentless rebounding of Toomey and Harris, although Louisville won the rebounding battle 44–39.
“Rebounding is a mentality kind of thing,” Toomey said. “I think we both went into this game knowing that we had to have a big impact in that way.”
After playing three seasons at Louisville, Harris knew to expect a battle under the boards.
“That’s an emphasis for them, so making sure that we keep attacking,” Harris said. “Rebounding wins games.”
Banghart acknowledged Kelly’s prolonged shooting slump but said she hasn’t been fully cleared and isn’t practicing.
Kelly, playing with a heavy wrap around her right leg, has missed her last 19 field-goal attempts (0 of 7 on Sunday, including two in overtime), with her last field goal coming on a jumper against Kansas State in Cancun on Nov. 28.
“We’re giving her game minutes instead of practice minutes so she can find her rhythm,” Banghart said. “It’s sad for her that she hasn’t found the basket, but there’s no one who believes in Reniya more than me. We’ve always been playing the long game with her.”
UNC freshman Nyla Brooks came into the game second in the ACC in 3-point shooting percentage and eighth in 3-pointers, but didn’t play in the second half after going 1 of 6 from the floor (1 of 5 from 3-point range) in the first half.
“She was aggressive on the catch, and obviously we really needed ball movement, and that wasn’t what she was doing so well,” Banghart said of Brooks, who played a season-low seven minutes, compared to a season-high 19 for Henderson. “Also, Taliyah Henderson played really well. She ended up getting more of those minutes that were available.”
Laura Ziegler (17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists), Elif Istanbulluoglu (16 points, four rebounds, 2 3-pointers, Berry (13 points, 7 rebounds) and Tajianna Roberts (11 points) led Louisville (10–3, 2–0).
Louisville began the game with a 12–5 run, taking a seven-point lead on a corner 3-pointer from Reyna Scott at 6:11 of the first quarter. A 7–0 Cardinals run pushed the lead to nine. UNC finished the opening quarter with a 10–3 run, with Grant’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer to slice its deficit to 26–24.
UNC turned up the defense in the second quarter but went scoreless for the first 5:20 of the second quarter before a Nivar 3-pointer. A Roberts 3-pointer gave Louisville a nine-point lead at 2:10 of the second quarter. Toomey’s layup and banked-in straight-away 3-pointer in a 6–0 run cut UNC’s deficit to three before Louisville led 38–33 at halftime.
A Toomey corner 3-pointer began a 6–0 UNC run to start the second half and give the Heels their first lead, for 16 seconds at 40–38, on a driving Aarnisalo jumper. Louisville responded with an 11–0 run to go up by nine. Laila Hull’s corner 3-pointer capped a 7–2 run to trim the deficit to four, but the Cardinals headed to the final quarter leading 56–51.
After Henderson’s 3-pointer 35 seconds into the fourth quarter, Louisville got back-to-back Istanbulluoglu 3-pointers to expand the lead to seven. Two inside Harris buckets cut UNC’s deficit to three with 4:15 left.
Back-to-back Henderson corner 3s gave UNC a 64–63 lead with 1:08 left, and a Grant drive pushed the lead to three with 19 seconds left. Skylar Jones’ inside bucket with 10.4 seconds left cut UNC’s lead to one.
Grant couldn’t catch the ensuing inbounds pass from Nivar, giving Louisville the ball with eight seconds left. But Louisville turned it back over to UNC with a wayward inbounds pass with 5.8 seconds left to set up Nivar’s two misses at the free throw line.
“It’s a long, competitive road,” Banghart said. “We’ll keep working.”
Notes
— UNC plays its final two nonconference games next week, both at home against teams with losing records: UNCW at 8 p.m. Wednesday (ACC Network) and Charleston Southern at noon Sunday (ACCN Extra). It will be the first game for the Seahawks (3–5) since a 78–68 loss Dec. 7 at Winthrop. The Buccaneers (2–7) host Clemson at 11 a.m. Wednesday (ESPN+) and Furman at 6 p.m. Friday (ESPN+).
— UNC lost a timeout with two minutes left in regulation when Banghart unsuccessfully challenged the call that a ball went out of bounds off Nivar.
— The entire Carolina roster was in uniform for the first time in at least two seasons, but only four reserves played.
— Louisville jumped from 31 to 14 in the NET rankings after the win, but UNC only fell two spots to 16.
— Carolina commited 16 turnovers and is 2–2 with at least 16 (19 in the loss at Texas) and 7–1 when it commits 12 or fewer (a season-low seven in the loss to UCLA).
— UNC is 9–0 when it gets nine or more steals and forces more than 13 turnovers, getting fewer of both in all three losses: five steals and 13 forced turnovers against UCLA, five and seven against Texas and three and 13 against Louisville.
— Carolina is 1–2 when shooting worse than 40% from the floor (34.8% vs. UCLA and 37.5% vs. Louisville) and 9–1 when shooting above that (46.9% in the loss to Texas).
— The 35 rebounds were the most by the Tar Heels in a loss this season after only getting 20 against UCLA and 23 against Texas.
— UNC is unbeaten (6–0) when holding opponents to under 40% shooting from the floor, but 3–3 when they shoot better than that: 40.3% by Louisville, 46.0% by Texas and 52.4% by UCLA.
— It was UNC’s first game this season with the final margin of fewer than 12 points.
— Louisville has won 10 of the last 13 meetings with UNC and leads the series 10–6, including 4–2 in Carmichael Arena.
— UNC fell to 0–3 in Quad 1 games after earlier losses to UCLA and Texas.
No. 22 Louisville 76, No. 12 UNC 66, OT
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 7 Louisville | 10–0 | 20–3 | 9 |
| No. 20 Duke | 10–0 | 15–6 | 14 |
| N.C. State | 8–2 | 15–6 | 25 |
| Syracuse | 7–3 | 17–4 | 41 |
| Virginia Tech | 7–3 | 16–4 | 41 |
| Virginia | 7–3 | 15–6 | 37 |
| North Carolina | 6–3 | 17–5 | 20 |
| Clemson | 6–4 | 15–7 | 40 |
| Notre Dame | 5–4 | 13–7 | 30 |
| Stanford | 4–5 | 15–7 | 36 |
| Miami | 4–6 | 12–9 | 47 |
| Georgia Tech | 4–6 | 9–13 | 91 |
| California | 3–5 | 12–9 | 56 |
| Florida State | 2–7 | 7–14 | 107 |
| Wake Forest | 2–8 | 12–10 | 122 |
| SMU | 1–9 | 8–14 | 176 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–9 | 8–15 | 261 |
| Boston College | 0–10 | 4–19 | 256 |
* — Through Wednesday games
Thursday’s games
Virginia 109, Wake Forest 103, 3 OTs
Virginia Tech 67, Pittsburgh 50
Syracuse 95, Georgia Tech 70
N.C. State 106, Boston College 84
Clemson 83, SMU 54
No. 7 Louisville 84, Stanford 66
No. 20 Duke 74, Miami 58
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 |
Photos by Joshua Lawton
tarheeltribune.com 