By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — With the worst free-throw shooting team in the ACC, close games are always going to be perilous for No. 16 North Carolina.
Add poor rebounding and damaging turnovers, and it produced overtime heartbreak for the second time in three weeks.
After the Tar Heels used their transition game and inside clout to lead for much of the game, Stanford rallied for a 77–71 victory Sunday, coming after losing in overtime at Carmichael Arena to No. 13 Louisville on Dec. 14.
Stanford (13–3, 2–1 ACC), in the second leg of its two-game Triangle trip, hadn’t led since midway through the second quarter before it took control in overtime. After going scoreless during the OT loss to Louisville, UNC (13–4, 2–2) only scored one field goal in the extra period on Sunday, which began with an Indya Nivar turnover.
“We turned it over, for first possession of the overtime. We turned it over. Our senior turned it over. That kind of says it right,” Banghart said. “And then their first offensive possession, they get the offensive rebound, sort of the game, over and over again, on repeat.”
Carolina shot 60% (18 of 30) from the free-throw line, the seventh time this season the Heels have shot at least that poorly, with three of those being losses (also Louisville and UCLA). UNC split pairs of free throws twice in overtime when it needed every point. Meanwhile, Stanford made 15 of 18 free-throw attempts, including all six in overtime.
“You can’t really complicate basketball at times, right?” Banghart said. “We missed 12 free throws, got outrebounded by 12, and we had 15 turnovers. That’s just a pretty sloppy output.”
The combination of Nyla Harris (18 points) and Ciera Toomey (16) inside, Elina Aarnisalo (12 points, 3 assists) outside, and pesky defense from Nivar (4 steals) and Reniya Kelly (3 steals) had UNC on a path to victory before a six-point lead with 6½ minutes slithered away.
“If you look at this stat sheet before the game, you stay home, right? Because you don’t win,” said Banghart, listing the ugly numbers, including shooting 21.4% from 3-point range (UNC’s fourth-worst perimeter shooting this season) and bluntly saying, “You can’t do that. But we did, and so that, therefore, that’s a loss.”
Toomey did plenty to try to will UNC to the victory, from drawing charges and blocking shots to making a huge late inside assist out of a double-team. But it all wasn’t enough.
“I felt like I could put myself in good positions to score,” Toomey said. “People were getting me the ball in the right places, and just being tough, putting myself in good position and finishing.”
The Tar Heels are averaging 33.1 paint points in the last seven games (232) after scoring 36 on Stanford. In those seven games, they have forced an average of 15.4 turnovers (108). They continually creating havoc for Stanford’s guards for much of the game, turning 22 turnovers into 16 points.
But it all added up to a loss because UNC was beaten 40–28 on the boards and committed 15 turnovers after committing 16 against Louisville.
“They just were out-toughing us in each position,” Toomey said. “It was in key moments. They were getting second-chance opportunities, and they were also converting them. I feel like that was when we saw the game really swing.”
After Stanford led by four early, UNC took the lead, 18–12, when Aarnisalo capped a 15–5 run with a 3-pointer and a jumper as the Tar Heels made five consecutive shots and led 18–14 after one quarter.
Carolina’s offense sputtered in the second quarter, and it went scoreless for nearly 3½ minutes, with Stanford taking a two-point lead, 23–21, after scoring seven straight points. A Kelly jumper ended the drought and began a 9–0 run as UNC regained the lead, 30–23, at 2:46 of the second quarter, and UNC led 34–29 at halftime.
Carolina had two seven-point leads early in the second half, but Stanford sliced its deficit to one with a 7–1 run. The Heels countered with a 12–6 run — which included Toomey drawing a charge and blocking a shot — to take a seven-point lead, 52–45, on Toomey’s second layup of the run. A Courtney Ogden 3-pointer cut UNC’s lead after three quarters to 54–50.
While Carolina went more than 7½ minutes without a field goal, Stanford cut its deficit to one, 58–57, on a three-point play by Alexandra Eschmeyer with 4:48 left. Toomey ended the field-goal drought with an inside bucket, then assisted on a Kelly three-point play to give UNC a 63–59 lead with 3:57 left.
Two Ogden jumpers and an inside Lara Somfai bucket in a 6–2 Stanford run tied it at 65 with 28.2 seconds left. After Aarnisalo missed a driving shot with nine seconds left, Stanford’s Chloe Clardy rimmed out on a driving floater at the regulation buzzer.
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Clardy’s two free throws with 4:16 left in overtime gave Stanford a one-point lead, 67–66, its first lead since the 4:38 mark of the second quarter, and an Eschmeyer bucket put the Cardinal up by 3.
Harris tied it with a layup, but layups by Clardy and Ogden and two Talana Lepolo free throws gave Stanford a 76–69 lead with 25 seconds left after the Cardinal got two huge offensive rebounds.
Two Kelly free throws with 20 seconds left cut the deficit to four, but Lepolo sank a pair of free throws with 18.7 seconds left to put the game away.
Ogden led Stanford with 21 points, with forward Somfai adding 13 points and eight rebounds and Clardy 12 points and nine rebounds.
Notes
— UNC gets a week off before visiting No. 18 Notre Dame at 1 p.m. on Sunday (ESPN) in a Quad 1 game. The Irish (10–4, 2–2) lost 82–68 at Duke on Sunday.
— Stanford lost 74–46 on Thursday at N.C. State in the first game of its Triangle trip.
— UNC commitment Noelle Bofia, who is enrolling for the spring semester, was courtside for the game. Banghart said that Bofia, the No. 52 player on ESPN’s Class of 2026 rankings, is following the same path Taissa Queiroz began one year ago.
— Harris only played 8 minutes, 16 seconds in the first half, spending most of the second quarter on a stationary bike.
— Both teams battled foul trouble, with Stanford starter Nunu Agara fouling out in the fourth quarter with six points, and starters Ogden and Lepolo each finishing with four fouls. Toomey, Nivar and Lanie Grant each drew four fouls.
— Stanford snapped a two-game losing streak against UNC and leads the all-time series 4–2.
Stanford 77, No. 16 UNC 71, OT
| 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 courtesy of UNC Athletics
