By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — The scars from Sunday’s disastrous ACC opener will likely linger, but lowly UNCW was just the cure to help No. 18 North Carolina bounce back strongly and try to move on.
With a substantial height and talent advantage, UNC rolled to an 84–34 victory over the Seahawks on Wednesday night at Carmichael Arena.
“On Sunday, we didn’t play the way that we would have liked. We were pretty foggy on both ends,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said of the 76–66 overtime loss to No. 16 Louisville. “I felt like it was back to how we operate [against UNCW], in terms of how we move with pace, how we can get stops together.”
The combination of freshman Nyla Brooks’ shooting from the outside (16 points, 4 3-pointers), Ciera Toomey’s dominance inside (15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks) and torrid defense (28 points off 22 turnovers) was too much for the Seahawks (3–6).
Toomey, at 6–4, is three inches taller than UNCW’s tallest player.
“Obviously, you get a little excited when you see that you’re just really big compared to the other people,” Toomey said. “When they came out in zone, the emphasis was on blocking out. And I think that was something that I did well today to get me a lot of open layups.”
UNC (10–3) held the Seahawks 22 points below their previous season-low (56 against Gardner-Webb) and the lowest point total by an opponent this season (N.C. Central had 42 in the season opener).
In an otherwise feel-good victory for the Tar Heels, the free-throw shooting that doomed them against Louisville got worse, with the program’s worst free-throw shooting game in four seasons.
Carolina came into the game 17th in the ACC and 315th in the country in free-throw percentage (63.9%), then shot better from 3-point range (34.4%) than from the free-throw line (33.3%). On the bright side for the Tar Heels, they scored double-digit 3-pointers (11) for the seventh time in nine games.
The free-throw shooting woes confound Banghart, who said that doesn’t allow the team to move to the next drill in practice until they make five consecutive free throws, “every one of them.” She said that she doesn’t talk about free-throw shooting with her players.
“It’s the game pressure. You have to be able to make free throws in game pressure,” Banghart said. “If their shot was broken at the free-throw line, they probably wouldn’t play.”
During the two days between games, the Tar Heels tried to process what went wrong, and the players saw a lot of video from the Louisville game. Toomey said it was eye-popping.
“We just didn’t really play like ourselves in that game. The film obviously breaks that down and shows us what we’re not seeing in the moment,” Toomey said. “Our pace really changes the offense. We didn’t really get out of screens very well in the game versus Louisville. So, in that film session, we got to see that, and then in practice, we really changed our mindset on that.”
On game day shootarounds, the players usually watch video of the opponent. On Wednesday, they instead saw vidwo of UNC’s Tuesday practice.
“When they can separate and put some vertical attack on the rim and put some force, it opens up our offense in so many ways,” Banghart said. “We kind of got back to that. This is a team that was playing about as well offensively as you could have before that game. I didn’t want them to have any self-doubt. I wanted to remind them of what makes us sharp.”
Banghart praised the leadership of the team, singling out Indya Nivar and Reniya Kelly, for talking to the rest of the players and setting the right tone.
“[Nivar] and Reniya were two in particular that were very vocal [Tuesday] in a good way,” Banghart said. “They just laced up their shoes, and they were ready to go. Reniya hasn’t practiced in God knows how long, and she was practicing. She was like, ‘Oh, Coach, I don’t care. I’m practicing.’ They are together. This is a group that really does care about success.”
There’s still plenty that Banghart wants to clean up, such as making fewer turnovers (UNC had 15) and missing fewer layup attempts after the Tar Heels were 18 of 30 against UNCW, but she praised the team’s resilience.
“Their hearts were broken, but they’re also process-oriented, and there’s a lot of season left,” Banghart said.
UNCW took a 6–5 lead as UNC started the game 3 of 11 from the floor.
That quickly changed as Carolina scored the next 11 points during a 19–4 run. Indya Nivar (10 points, 3 assists, 2 steals) got a block on one end, and one of five layups during the run at the other end, and the Heels got 3-pointers from Brooks and Lanie Grant. Another late Brooks 3 gave UNC a 27–12 lead after one quarter.
Brooks’ big game came after she shot 1 of 8 against Louisville and didn’t play in the second half. Banghart said she spent extra time with the freshman between games, watching video to help her improve on defense.
“I thought she’s continuing to step up,” Banghart said. “We’re hearing her voice more. She’s getting more accountable defensively. [She] had a good practice [Tuesday], defended well today. Offensively, we know what we’re going to get. It’s [a question of] can we continue to make sure that she grows in a way that allows her to be as good as she wants to be.”
Beginning the second quarter with five reserves, UNC kept it going with a 14–2 run to go up by 27 points 5½ minutes into the period. The Tar Heels scored three more layups to end the first half with a 47–18 lead.
A Taliyah Henderson 3-pointer to end an 11–0 run pushed UNC’s lead to 39. After a timeout with a half-second left, Blanca Thomas caught and quickly shot after catching an inbounds pass as UNC took a 67–30 lead into the final quarter.
UNCW didn’t score a field goal in the last 9:39 as UNC finished off the win with 17–1 run. The lead reached 50 on Taissa Queiroz’s layup with 45 seconds left.
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Notes
— Carolina plays its final nonconference game at noon Sunday, facing Charleston Southern (ACC Network). The Buccaneers (2–8) lost 78–52 at home Wednesday to Clemson and host Furman at 6 p.m. Friday (ESPN+).
— The Tar Heels play their first road ACC game at 8 p.m. Dec. 29 against Boston College (ACC Network)
— UNC was a 52½-point favorite and probably would have covered had Banghart not played the entire roster.
— It was UNC’s worst free-throw shooting game since a 27.3% performance against Georgia Tech on Jan. 23, 2022, in a 55–38 loss.
— Henderson made her only field-goal attempt and hasn’t missed any of her 11 attempts in the last three games.
— Kelly missed all three field-goal attempts and has now missed her last 21 attempts since the Cancun Challenge.
— UNC has won all six meetings with the Seahawks, five of those in Carmichael Arena.
— With UNCW held to six second-quarter points and four fourth-quarter points, Carolina has held opponents to single-digit points in a quarter 15 times in 13 games.
No. 18 UNC 84, UNCW 34
| 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
Non-conference schedule
| Date | Day/ month | Time | Opponent/event (rank in final poll) |
|---|---|---|---|
| November | |||
| 2 | Monday | TBA | Oui-Play in Paris vs. No 12 Oklahoma |
| 8 | Sunday | TBA | 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 |
| 21 | Monday | TBA | vs. Norfolk State |
| 28 | Monday | TBA | vs. UNCW |
ACC home opponents: Duke, N.C. State, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Virginia.
ACC road opponents: Duke, Stanford, California, Louisville, Clemson, Miami, Syracuse, SMU and Pittsburgh
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics Communication
