By R.L. Bynum
FORT WORTH, Texas — For one half, North Carolina showed the best team in the country the kind of defense that thrust the Tar Heels into the national spotlight.
No. 1 UConn could only be held down so long, though.
The Huskies used a 19–0 run that started late in the first half and did what they do to every opponent, pulling away for an easy win. This time, it was a 63–42 victory on Friday in the Sweet 16 at Dickies Arena that ended UNC’s season.
“I felt like we made them go to plan B and plan C and plan D and they’re just good,” Banghart said. “They obviously were able to convert more than we were.”
The reigning national champion Huskies (37–0) won their 53rd consecutive game and will play Notre Dame, a 67–64 winner over Vanderbilt in Friday’s first game, on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four.
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Indya Nivar went out in style in her final college game, scoring a career-high 20 points and pulling down a team-high eight rebounds while getting four steals and a highlight-reel block in the first half. Afterward, she struggled to process the moment.
“A lot of emotions,” Nivar said. “I haven’t really been able to process them all, but just really proud of my teammates, my sisters.”
UConn came into the game leading the nation in shooting at 52.5%, but shot just 36.1% in the first half and led by only eight at halftime. UNC’s defensive effort was no accident.
“I think that we bought into the game plan, and we just wanted it,” said Nyla Harris, who battled foul trouble and finished with three points and seven rebounds in her final college game. “We just bought into sitting down, guarding and making things tough for them.”
UConn coach Geno Auriemma said that Carolina’s half-court defense gave his team problems.
“We went into the game feeling like we had to be more aggressive with the ball,” Auriemma said. “We have to try to score earlier in the possession because once they get their defense set, they’re really, really good. They’re a really good defensive team. They’re physical. It’s hard to cut. It’s hard to get to the rim against them because of the way they play off the ball.”
He said that the Huskies tried to score earlier in the second half before they pulled away. But it was a combination of that and the mighty struggles from Carolina on offense, which created chances for the Huskies.
Although UConn was held 26 points below their average, the defense could not keep UNC (28–8) afloat, as the offense struggled to find its rhythm and was turnover-prone (24 turnovers). A nearly eight-minute scoring drought put the Heels in a hole they could not escape.
“What happened in the third quarter is we turned it. We missed shots,” Banghart said after her team shot 2 of 17 in the third period and committed six turnovers. “They were not playing against a set defense. I’ve said it all year: There’s no defense for a turnover.”
Lanie Grant said UConn’s defense made it tough for the offense to find any rhythm.
“That’s an elite defensive team,” Grant said. “That’s a different type of ball pressure than we experienced all season, and you try to replicate it in practice, but they’re all up in you.”
Sarah Strong scored 21 points and led UConn’s second-half surge, with Blanca Quiñonez adding 16.
“It was a really physical game,” Banghart said. Obviously, that led to way too many turnovers for us, not getting outside hips the way we usually do, and we usually shoot the ball a lot better from three. To beat a team like this, you have to be really good. You have to make your open shots. You have to take care of the basketball, and we didn’t do that.”
Carolina was 4 of 22 from 3-point range, marking the first time since early January that it has scored only four or fewer 3-pointers in back-to-back games (the Tar Heels were 4 of 11 against Maryland).
“They’re pressuring every single time that you bring the ball to court,” sophomore Elina Aarnisalo said after UConn ended her season for the second straight year, with the Huskies beating her UCLA team in last season’s Final Four
UNC’s early plan had worked until the turnovers mounted.
“We could defend them on five on five,” said Aarnisalo, who was held to two points after scoring 21 against Maryland. “We weren’t matching up quick enough.”
A Grant 3-pointer and Harris follow shot gave UNC a 5–2 lead as UConn made only one of its first eight shots. Layups by Quiñonez and Strong ended a three-minute Huskies scoreless drought and started a 9–2 run to seize a four-point lead. But Nivar’s big block and her 3-pointer, plus a Harris layup, gave the Heels a 12–11 lead after one quarter despite seven turnovers.
UConn began the second quarter with a 10–2 run, including four consecutive Strong baskets, to go up by seven at 5:43 of the second quarter. Six straight Nivar points, the last on a transition layup, pulled UNC within three at 1:43 left in the first half.
But UConn scored the last five points of the first half to lead 28–20 at halftime, and its decisive run gave it a 40–20 lead on KK Arnold’s layup with 5½ minutes left in the third quarter.
The difference, players said, came down to ball control and transition.
“The first level to you on defense is taking care of the ball, and I feel like that was the biggest difference between each half,” Nivar said. “They were able to get in transition, which is really hard to guard with all the offensive power they have.”
Aarnisalo saw the same shift.
“When they got steals, they had run layups on us, and that’s their biggest advantage in their game, scoring easy baskets,” Aarnisalo said.
Harris, who picked up her second and third fouls in the last 2:14 of the first half, and then got whistled for her fourth with 8:52 left in the third quarter, returned to end the long scoring drought with 4:22 left in the third period with a layup. UConn outscored UNC 20–5 in the third quarter to take a 48–25 lead, and the Tar Heels got no closer than 20 points after that.
Harris saluted her fellow senior Nivar, calling her an elite guard.
“I know how hard it is to play against her, and so being able to be beside her and see her growth is just amazing,” she said. “Her energy is contagious and how she carries herself is very contagious. I’m so proud of her. She’s done amazing this season, and whoever gets her is very much lucky. I know she will do big things.”
Even in defeat, UNC’s seniors took pride in what they built, reaching back-to-back Sweet 16s with a reshaped roster.
“I’ll just say I’m proud of how connected we were as a team, how resilient we were,” Nivar said.
Harris added: “I think that we made it here for a reason, and it shows our resilience as a team.”
Notes
— Nivar broke the single-season program steals record with her four steals Friday to give her 94 for the season.
— The five third-quarter UNC points tied for the fewest in any period this season. The Tar Heels scored five in the third quarter of their 73–50 loss at Notre Dame on Jan. 11.
— Nyla Brooks scored one 3-pointer to give her 63 for the season, the most by a freshman since Stephanie Watts hit 76 in the 2016–16 season.
— It was UConn’s closest game at halftime since trailing Villanova 40–37 on Feb. 18 in an 83–60 Huskies win.
— UConn won its eighth consecutive meeting against UNC to push its lead in the all-time series to 10–4. Carolina’s last win came 19 seasons ago, 82–76 in Chapel Hill on Jan. 15, 2007.
— Junior guard Reniya Kelly missed the last 12 games of the season.
— UNC capped a challenging schedule with its fourth loss to a No. 1 seed, earlier losing 91–82 in an Oct. 30 Atlanta exhibition to South Carolina, 78–60 in Las Vegas to UCLA on Nov. 13 and 79–64 in a Dec. 4 game at Texas.
— Carolina fell to 7–13 in Sweet 16 games, including losses in its last four regional semifinals, the previous three all against South Carolina.
No. 1 UConn 63, No. 15 UNC 42
Fort Worth 1 Regional
FIRST ROUND
Last Friday’s results
Chapel Hill
No. 5 Maryland 99, No. 12 Murray State 67
No. 4 North Carolina 82, No. 13 Western Illinois 51
Last Saturday’s results
Storrs, Conn.
No. 1 UConn 90, No. 16 UTSA 52
No. 9 Syracuse 72, No. 8 Iowa State 63
Columbus, Ohio
No. 3 Ohio State 74, No. 14 Howard 54
No. 6 Notre Dame 79, Fairfield 60
Nashville, Tenn.
No. 2 Vanderbilt 102, No. 15 High Point 61
No. 7 Illinois 66, No. 10 Colorado 57
SECOND ROUND
Sunday’s result
Chapel Hill
North Carolina 74, Maryland 66
Monday’s results
Columbus, Ohio
Notre Dame 83, Ohio State 73
Storrs, Conn.
UConn 98, Syracuse 45
Nashville, Tenn.
Vanderbilt 75, Illinois 57
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS
Fort Worth, Texas
Friday’s results
Notre Dame 67, Vanderbilt 64
UConn 63, North Carolina 42
REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunday’s game
Notre Dame (25–10) vs. UConn (37–0), TBA
| 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 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
