By Bob Sutton
CHAPEL HILL — The first public performance for this edition of the North Carolina women’s basketball team was more than a routine exercise.
The Tar Heels have plenty to accomplish in the lead-up to the season and they certainly found themselves in notable situations during Sunday afternoon’s exhibition matchup with Davidson at Carmichael Arena.
“How fun to get out here with this kind of new group,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “… To have to figure it out in live time was really valuable.”
Indeed, it was a deceptive 77–66 final score considering the game was tied with less than 4½ minutes remaining, but that provided perhaps critical learning experiences right away.
“We have a lot of inexperience,” Banghart said. “How do they adjust as it goes along?”
Oklahoma State transfer Achol Akot’s 19 points and 11 rebounds and freshman Kate Harpring’s 17 points led the way. Nyla Brooks, aided by 3-for-6 shooting on 3-pointers, added 10 points and Virginia transfer Gabby White had nine points.
The Tar Heels led 52–48 entering the fourth quarter, primarily because Davidson didn’t connect on a field goal for the final seven minutes of the third quarter.
A Brooks 3-pointer and Laila Hull’s basket in transition gave the Tar Heels some space at 57–50. Then the Wildcats were even at 61–61 with less than five minutes to play.
From there, UNC went on a 10–1 run.
Kyra Bruyndoncx’s 20 points led Davidson, which finished with 19 turnovers.
Akot, playing for the first time in her new home arena, said she appreciated the atmosphere created by a few hundred spectators — a crowd officially listed as 890 — on a weekend during the university’s fall break.
“That definitely gave me energy,” Akot said.
Akot said she’ll continue to fit in with the Tar Heels. She said she’s still learning “when to slow down and when to speed up” as she adjusts to a new system and new teammates.
Harpring, a heralded signee in the most-recent recruiting class, had 15 of the team’s first 45 points. She also committed four of the first 10 turnovers.
Harpring certainly took initiative on the offensive end. She shot 8-for-19 from the field, with no other UNC player with more than nine attempts.
The Tar Heels’ defense was more bothersome in the second half and that made a difference.
Sophomore guard Taissa Queiroz played almost 30 minutes off the bench. Among the Tar Heels, her total playing time trailed only Reniya Kelly’s 34-plus minutes. Queiroz averaged less than 12 minutes of court time across 25 games as a reserve as season.
She turned in eight points and five rebounds vs. Davidson.
“I wanted to be a leader on the defense part,” Queiroz said of one of her objectives coming into the season.
Davidson shot 51.9% from the field in the first half, which ended at 40–40.
UNC trailed 22–15 in the final minute of the first quarter. The Tar Heels surged ahead, going up on White’s 3-pointer from the right corner. Queiroz connected from a similar spot as UNC’s edge grew to 29–23.
Banghart said there were encouraging segments against Davidson combined with solid individual outings. But she also didn’t identify any Tar Heel as playing great.
“We’ll continue to learn how to play as five,” she said. “We want to make sure by December this kind of newly assembled team is ready to rock.”
The Tar Heels have another exhibition Saturday afternoon at Maryland — a rematch of last March’s NCAA Tournament second-round game won by UNC in Chapel Hill — before their Nov. 2 opener vs. Oklahoma in Paris.END
Bob Sutton is a veteran ACC sports writer who is the former North Carolina Sportswriter of the Year and was the sports editor of the Burlington Times-News for 25 years.
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UNC 76, Davidson 66
| Date | Day/ month | Times/ scores | Opponent/event (rank in final poll) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | |||
| 18 | Sunday | W, 76–66 | vs. Davidson | |
| 24 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at No. 20 Maryland | B1G+ * |
| November | Regular season | |||
| 2 | Monday | 2:30 ET | Oui-Play in Paris vs. No. 12 Oklahoma | ESPN2 |
| 8 | Sunday | 5:30 | Ally Tipoff in Charlotte vs. No. 2 South Carolina | ESPN |
| 11 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. N.C. Central | ACCNE |
| 14 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at Penn in Palestra | ESPN+ |
| WBCA Showcase | Orlando | |||
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. Texas Tech | ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 5 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Alabama | ESPN+ |
| ——— | ||||
| 24 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Gardner-Webb | ACCNE |
| 27 | Friday | 7 p.m. | vs. Army | ACCNE |
| 29 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | vs. Brown | ACCN |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Wednesday | 7:15 | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge vs. No. 8 LSU | ESPN2 |
| 6 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Elon | ACCN |
| 9 | Wednesday | 11 a.m. | vs. Winthrop | ACCNE |
| 13 | Sunday | 6 p.m. | vs. N.C. State | ESPN |
| 17 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| 21 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Norfolk State | ACCN |
| 28 | Monday | 8 p.m. | vs. UNCW | ACCN |
| 31 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Syracuse | ACCN |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | at Clemson | The CW |
| 7 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 10 | Sunday | 3 p.m. | at No. 11 Louisville | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 17 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | vs. Boston College | ACCN |
| 21 | Thursday | 8 p.m. ET | at California | ACCN |
| 24 | Sunday | 2 p.m. ET | at Stanford | ESPN, 2 or U |
| 28 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 9 Notre Dame | ESPN |
| 31 | Sunday | 5 p.m. | vs. No. 5 Duke | ESPN |
| February | ||||
| 4 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ACCNE |
| 7 | Sunday | 6 p.m. | vs. Virginia Tech | ACCN |
| 14 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | at SMU | ACCNE |
| 18 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Pittsburgh | ACCN |
| 21 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Florida State | The CW |
| 25 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | vs. No. 19 Virginia | ACCN |
| 28 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | at No. 5 Duke | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 3–7 | Wed.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
* — The Big Ten Network’s B1G+ is a subscription service.
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
