By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — The blueprint to match the best 3-point shooting game in program history isn’t going 1 of 10 in the first quarter.
But when you have a “blowtorch” at your disposal, that slow start can be erased in a hurry.
No. 22 North Carolina, which trailed for the entire first quarter, kept raining in 3-pointers and rolled to a 78–50 victory Sunday at Carmichael Arena over lowly Pittsburgh on Play4Kay day.
The Panthers’ defensive approach gave UNC a lot of open shots. As they collapsed on drives and post entries, the arc was exposed.
“You’ve got to pick your poison,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “They really were collapsing on interior penetration. They were collapsing on the interior entry, and so they were giving up the arc.”
UNC finished with 14 3s, tying the program record for a single game for the 15th time and second time this season when Russian freshman Liza Astakhova knocked one down with 2:35 left.
But it was redshirt sophomore Laila Hull, “an absolute blowtorch from 3,” as ACC Network play-by-play announcer Tom Werme called her, who led the perimeter show. She ignited a 30-point second quarter (the most in a quarter this season) with four of her career-high five 3-pointers on her way to a career-high 17 points.
“I’ve never been called that before, so that’s really interesting,” Hull said. “It’s a compliment. I mean, it’s a testament to the work that I put in to make sure that I am that blowtorch.”
Hull had never hit that many 3s, even in her decorated high school career, when she was Indiana’s Miss Basketball at Zionsville High School.
“Sometimes I feel like I do,” Hull said when asked if she feels it when she gets into a shooting zone. “I think just the work that I put in to make my shot kind of automatic helps. I see a few go in, I have confidence in all the rest of them.”
Her journey to that confidence has not been smooth. Hull redshirted her first season after suffering a torn labrum in her right shoulder, then fought for minutes last season and this season.
“I just keep learning and growing,” Hull said. “My actual freshman playing season, I was under a lot of veteran players who were very good, and also I got to learn. So, it was less like, ‘Oh, I need to play,’ but more like, “I need to learn and [get] experience and see what I can do.”
She credited her mental approach for Sunday’s breakout.
“I feel like, for a lot of people, you can get discouraged by this process and by maybe not playing,” Hull said. “But I think, for me, it was more of my mental side and staying in it. I don’t think without my mental strength, that I’ve grown the past year, that I would have been able to play like this [Sunday].”
Pittsburgh (8–21, 1–15 ) has the worst NET ranking in the league (258) and a 12-game losing streak.
Banghart said those decisions weren’t injury-related but moves to make sure they were fresh for the stretch run.
The weak opposition allowed Banghart to rest two seniors: guard Indya Nivar for the entire game and forward Nyla Harris for the second half.
“Just sheerly rest,” Banghart said. “I know it sounds really, really NBA-like. We’ve got two big games next week, and then you literally go right into a three-game tournament. So you’ve just got to be smart.”
Banghart emptied her bench, and every Tar Heel who played got at least 4½ minutes.
“I feel really fortunate as a coach that, in late February, you can sit all of your upperclassmen, and you’re not worried,” Banghart said. “I wasn’t worried at all.”
As Banghart put it, it was “the youth movement” on Sunday, and that meant freshman Nyla Brooks getting her first start, and she delivered. Brooks poured in 18 points and three 3-pointers.
“You can see how much this group readies for their opportunities,” Banghart said. “Many young guys come in and do what we’ve asked them to do, play with great energy.”
Two sophomore guards, Elina Aarnisalo (11 points, two 3-pointers) and Lanie Grant (9 points, three 3-pointers), backed up Hull’s big game.
“I feel like with our younger group, we know that when we go in, all we need to do is play hard, and that’s going to help the team a lot,” she said. “I think especially with us, all we care about is helping the team win, and if we notice that whatever we’re lacking in the first quarter, we’re going to do that in the second quarter when we get our opportunity.”
Pittsburgh jumped out to a 9–2 lead, with Megan Hollingsworth scoring five, including a 3-pointer. After UNC missed seven of its first eight shots, an Aarnisalo jumper started a 10–3 first-quarter ending run to cut the deficit to 14–12 after one quarter, with half of UNC’s points from Aarnisalo.
Banghart said the issue was that the Tar Heels’ pace wasn’t what it needed to be.
“We came out a little bit slow,” Banghart said. “We were just a step slow, not characteristic of ourselves.”
Hull’s corner 3-pointer 86 seconds into the second quarter gave UNC its first lead and triggered a 27–7 surge. Hull buried three 3s during that run, helping the Tar Heels flip 22.2% first-quarter shooting to 57.9% second-quarter shooting.
The 3s continued in the third quarter as UNC hit five more, pushing the lead to 63–39 entering the fourth. The margin grew to as many as 31 after a Brooks layup with 2:03 remaining.
Pittsburgh got 19 points from Theresa Hagans and 12 from Fatima Diakhate.
It gets significantly tougher Thursday night when UNC visits Virginia (19–8, 11–5), which pulled off a 74–72 upset Sunday at No. 8 Louisville.
“We have to go to Virginia and play a really good Virginia team on the road and honor that with the best we have,” Banghart said. “And then we’ve got Duke at home. It’s another big week.”
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Notes
— Thursday’s 7 p.m. game at Virginia (ACC Network Extra) is a Quad 1 game, and the Tar Heels’ final regular-season road game.
— UNC also scored 14 3-pointers in Cancun on Nov. 28 in its 85–73 victory. It was the fifth ACC game with 14 3-pointers, the previous two against Georgia Tech on Jan. 31, 2019, and Feb. 16, 2017.
— The Tar Heels have scored double-digit 3-pointers in 12 games this season after doing it only eight times last season and only four times in the 2023–24 season.
— Carolina has consecutive seasons with at least 12 ACC wins for the first time since doing it in the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons.
— Hull’s previous career-highs were 14 points twice (including against Fairfield this season) and four 3-pointers twice (including that Fairfield game).
— The previous high for UNC points in a quarter this season was 29 against N.C. A&T.
—Junior UNC guard Reniya Kelly missed her fifth consecutive game.
— Fans got free pink towels for UNC’s Play4Kay game, with the Tar Heels wearing pink shoes and some wearing pink headbands.
— UNC recognised longtime women’s basketball sports-information contact Dana Gelin, who lost her battle with breast cancer last year, during a second-half timeout. “Dana was one of the best to ever do it. The loss of Dana — it just doesn’t sit well. Women’s cancer is real, and everybody in this arena was touched by Dana,” said Banghart. She also mentioned Associate Head Coach Joanne Aluka-White, who is battling cancer. “Jo, with grit and grace, has had her fight. This is real.”
— Carolina’s seventh consecutive victory over Pittsburgh moves its lead in the all-time series to 10–6, including 6–1 at Carmichael.
—Taliyah Henderson started the second half in place of Harris.
— Six former Pittsburgh players filed a lawsuit Friday against third-year coach Tory Verdi and the school, alleging that they created a psychologically abusive team environment, including an incident in which he told the team that it made him want to kill himself.
No. 22 UNC 78, Pittsburgh 50
| 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
