By R.L. Bynum
Maryland is the headliner of the visiting teams that will play early-round NCAA women’s tournament games at Carmichael Arena beginning Friday, with North Carolina placed in Fort Worth 1 Regional.
No. 15 UNC (26–7), the sub-regional host, is the No. 4 seed and will face No. 13-seed Western Illinois (26–5) at 5:30 p.m. Friday (ESPN News), with the No. 17-ranked and No. 5-seed Terps (23–8) meeting No. 12 seed Murray State (31–3) in the other game at 3 p.m. (ESPNU). The winners meet on Sunday.
Coach Courtney Banghart was at her son’s soccer game when she got the news on Saturday that the Tar Heels would be an early-round host.
“Was thrilled with the news. I felt like we’ve done a lot of good work this season, especially as we’ve got such a young group, it takes time.” Banghart said during a Sunday evening interview on ACC Network. “The tournament isn’t playing in November, and we were certainly thrilled for and grateful for the league.”
No. 1-ranked UConn (34–0) is the No. 1 overall seed and the No. 1 seed in the Tar Heels’ regional, a possible Sweet 16 opponent in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Proud to be on UConn side,” Banghart said. “We’ve played the other three one seeds, so it was the only one we didn’t have. So I was sort of expecting to be on their side, and my expectation was proved correct.”
Hosting gives seniors Indya Nivar and Nyla Harris the chance to play two more home games.
“You can’t lose sight of how exciting it is to be in the NCAA tournament,” Banghart said. “I’ve been in a lot of them in the last however many years. But for this particular team, it’s our one chance. And there’s something really exciting about that. No team in March is hasn’t earned it.”
UNC is one of a record nine ACC teams to make the field, breaking the previous record of eight that’s been achieved nine times since 2014.
Western Illinois, with a NET ranking of 90, finished tied for the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title with Lindenwood at 16–4, then beat Lindenwood 71–65 in the league tournament championship game on March 7.
The Leathernecks are led by 6–2 senior forward Mia Nicastro, the OVC Player of the Year, who leads the team in scoring (24.2 points per game) and rebounding (9.9) and recorded 14 double-doubles. Addie Brownfield, a 5–9 senior guard, earned OVC Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Western Illinois lost to UNC 94–48 in the first round of the 1995 NCAA tournament in the only previous meeting. That Tar Heels team went 30–5, won the ACC regular-season and tournament titles, but lost 81–71 to Stanford in the Sweet 16.
Maryland finished sixth in the Big Ten (11–7) and has lost two consecutive games after losing 73–68 in the second round of the Big Ten tournament on March 5 to unranked Oregon.
The Terps are led by former Duke star Oluchi Okananwa, a 5–10 junior guard, who is averaging a team-leading 18 points per game while pulling down 5½ rebounds per game.
In the Blue Devils’ 47–38 Sweet 16 victory last season over UNC, Okananwa produced a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds while sinking two 3-pointers. She only has three double-doubles this season.
A potential second-round matchup on Sunday/Monday with Maryland would be UNC’s first against its former ACC rival since the Tar Heels won 73–70 in the quarterfinals of the 2014 ACC tournament in Greensboro.
Maryland, which leads the all-time series with UNC 39–37, beat No. 1 seed Carolina 81–70 in a 2006 national semifinal in their only NCAA meeting.
The No. 2-seed Terps, who finished 34–4, beat No. 1 seed Duke 78–75 that season in the championship game. UNC won the regular-season and tournament ACC titles, beating Maryland 91–80 in the ACC final, and finished 33–2.
UNC is an early-round host in consecutive seasons for the first time in 11 years, hosting for the 14th time in program history after winning 13 of its last 15 games.
Last season, the Tar Heels, 24–1 in home NCAA games, beat Oregon State 70–49 in a first-round game at Carmichael Arena on March 22 and topped West Virginia 58–47 on March 24 in the second round to advance to the Sweet 16.
ACC champion Duke (24–8) is also a host and is the No. 3 seed in the Sacramento 2 Regional.
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ACC teams in NCAA field
Thursday’s First Four
No. 10 Virginia vs. No. 10 Arizona State — Regional 4 Sacramento — Iowa City, Iowa, 9 p.m., ESPN2
Friday’s first-round games
No. 3 Duke vs. No. 14 College of Charleston — Regional 2 Sacramento — Durham, 11:30 a.m., ESPN2
No. 8 Oregon vs. No. 9 Virginia Tech — Regional 3 Fort Worth — Austin, Texas, 1:30, ESPN2
No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 13 Western Illinois— Regional 1 Fort Worth — Chapel Hill, 5:30, ESPN News
No. 7 N.C. State vs. No. 10 Tennessee — Regional 3 Fort Worth — Ann Arbor, Mich., 8 p.m., ESPN
Saturday’s first-round games
No. 3 Louisville vs. No. 14 Vermont — Regional 3 Fort Worth — Louisville, Ky., noon, ESPN
Virginia-Arizona State winner vs. No. 7 Georgia — Region 4 Sacramento — Iowa City, Iowa, 1:30, ESPN2
No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 11 Fairfield — Regional 1 Fort Worth — Columbus, Ohio, 2 p.m., ESPN
No. 8 Clemson vs. No. 9 USC — Regional 4 Sacramento — Columbia, S.C., 3:30, ESPN2
No. 8 Iowa State vs. No. 9 Syracuse — Regional 1 Fort Worth — Storrs, Conn., 5:30, ESPN2
Fort Worth 1 Regional
FIRST ROUND
Friday games
Chapel Hill
No. 5 Maryland (23–8) vs. No. 12 Murray State (31–3), 3 p.m., ESPNU
No. 4 North Carolina (26–7) vs. No. 13 Western Illinois (26–5), 5:30, ESPN News
Saturday games
Storrs, Conn.
No. 1 UConn (34–0) vs. No. 16 UTSA (18–15), 3 p.m., ABC
No. 8 Iowa St. (22–9) vs. No. 9 Syracuse (23–8), 5:30, ESPN2
Columbus, Ohio
No. 3 Ohio St. (26–7) vs. No. 14 Howard (26–7), 11:30 a.m., ESPN2
No. 6 Notre Dame (22–10) vs. No. 11 Fairfield (28–4), 2 p.m., ESPN
Nashville, Tenn.
No. 2 Vanderbilt (27–4) vs. No. 15 High Point (27–5), 7 p.m., ESPN News
No. 7 Illinois (21–11) vs. No. 10 Colorado (22–11), 9:30 p.m., ESPN2
SECOND ROUND
Sunday’s game
Chapel Hill
North Carolina–W. Illinois winner vs. Maryland–Murray St. winner, TBA
Monday’s game
Storrs, Conn.
UConn–UTSA winner vs. Iowa St.–Syracuse winner, TBA
Columbus, Ohio
Ohio St.–Howard winner vs. Notre Dame–Fairfield winner, TBA
Nashville, Tenn.
Vanderbilt–High Point winner vs. Illinois–Colorado winner, TBA
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS
Fort Worth, Texas
Friday, March 27
Storrs winner vs. Chapel Hill winner
Columbus winner vs. Nashville winner
REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunday, March 29
Semifinal winners
NCAA tournament bracket
| Date | Day/month | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ 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 1st two rounds in Chapel Hill | ||||
| 21 | Friday | 5:30 p.m. | First round: vs. Western Illinois | ESPN News |
| 23 | Sunday | TBA | (With win) Second round: No. 17 Maryland or Murray State | TBA |
| 27, 29 | Fri., Sun. | TBA | Fort Worth 1 Regional | TBA |
| April | ||||
| 3, 5 | Fri., Sun. | Final Four Phoenix | ESPN (Fri.); ABC (Sun.) |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
