By R.L. Bynum
When Courtney Banghart says Kate Harpring is “not there yet” in her decision-making on a day when she scores 29 points in an impressive all-around game, it tells you about the expectations for the five-star freshman.
Harpring hit three 3-pointers and collected team-highs of six rebounds, four assists and three steals, but it wasn’t enough as No. 12 North Carolina dropped an exhibition game against No. 20 Maryland 72–68 at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Md., on Saturday.
Banghart saw clear growth from Harpring after the Tar Heels’ 76–66 home exhibition win over Davidson (17 points, 2 assists, 4 turnovers), even with the mistakes that come with a first season of college basketball.
“I think Kate was much better today than she was the last game, and I think she’ll be better the next one,” Banghart said. “I thought she was made better decisions. She’s not there yet in terms of epic imperfection with her decision-making, but she made a lot better decisions.
“She’s a fierce competitor. She’s a joy to coach and a joy to watch because she’s consistently like that,” Banghart said. “That’s how she is in practice, and so I know she’ll be watching on the way home and knowing where she can get better.
Typical of the game’s physical nature and the referees’ reticence to call fouls at times, Harpring drove with 4.2 seconds left with a chance to tie it. Her shot went over the backboard after plenty of contact, and no foul was called.
Banghart said she had a conversation with one of the officials afterward and pointed out that it was the first game of the year for the referees as well. She said the contact was part of the lesson for her young players.
“She had to play through contact in some cases that maybe those would be free throws,” Banghart said. “But that’s good. Learn what that contact feels like.”
UNC trailed by seven with 3½ minutes left, but the rally fell short despite holding the Terps without a field goal for the final 4:05.
“I thought defensively there were a few lack-of-discipline plays,” Banghart said. “We were better defensively than we were last game.”
Even in defeat, it was a fun homecoming for Nyla Brooks, who is from Waldorf, Md., and had plenty of family members on hand. She made her first three 3-point attempts in the first quarter and finished with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and a block.
“I love being home for sure,” Brooks said. “I try to go home every chance. It was a great environment, and it felt really good to play here.”
UNC played both exhibition games without two senior rotation players, Syracuse transfer guard Sofie Burrows and forward Ciera Toomey. Sophomore Virginia transfer guard Gabby White, who played in the Davidson game, was also held out.
Banghart said Toomey would probably not have played in a game that counted, although she is getting close and Burrows and White would have been available.
“They’ve got a little tweak that’ll be fine,” Banghart said. “But if it was go time, they’d be playing.”
The absences left Carolina with a younger rotation against a physical Maryland team. Banghart said the opportunity to evaluate those players mattered more than the exhibition result, especially with UNC facing a difficult early-season schedule.
“I wanted everybody to play. I was able to do that,” Banghart said. “I just honestly wanted everyone to experience the court, right? Because when you start to play games that count, doesn’t always happen like that.”
Two Brooks 3-pointers and a pair of Achol Akot buckets sparked a 10–4 UNC start in the game’s first 3:06. Maryland’s Nunu Agara, a Stanford transfer who produced a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds, scored seven points in a 9–3 run to take a 17–13 lead on an Oluchi Okananwa layup with 34 seconds left in the first quarter.
A 3-pointer from Taissa Queiroz, who went 0-for-9 from beyond the arc last season, ended a nearly five-minute UNC scoring drought, and the Terps took a 19–16 lead into the second quarter.
Harpring scored no points in the first quarter, but Banghart was not concerned about getting her more touches early. She said Maryland switched ball screens at the point of the screen, which opened up layups and 3-pointers for others.
“She hasn’t yet played a college basketball game in terms of one that counts on the win-loss record,” Banghart said. “So she’s just drinking out a fire hose, and her teammates are helping her along the way. I’m worried about if we can get our team to continue to get better.”
A Jordan Zubich 3-pointer began a 14–6 UNC run to take a 30–28 lead as Harpring scored seven straight Carolina points on a layup, a driving jumper and a 3-pointer with 3:46 left in the first half. UNC led 33–32 at halftime after trading two Terps buckets for a Laila Hull 3-pointer.
UNC scored only two points in the first 3½ minutes of the second half as Reniya Kelly (2 points, 0 of 6 from the floor) missed four perimeter jump shots and Maryland took a five-point lead. Harpring scored Carolina’s first 13 second-half points, tying it at 46 on a layup with 3:45 left as Maryland went three minutes without a field goal.
Hull’s layup with 2½ minutes left in the third quarter gave UNC its first points from somebody other than Harpring in the second half. A pair of Rainey Welson 3-pointers in the last minute of the third quarter gave Maryland a 54–48 lead.
Brooks, who played a big role as a freshman last year, said Harpring has the right mindset for the adjustment ahead.
“She’s a competitor,” Brooks said. “She comes in every single day ready to work. Literally got to drag her out of the gym every single day. So, she’ll most definitely learn with experience for sure.”
Three Brooks free throws ended a nearly four-minute UNC scoring drought with 8:46 left, cutting the deficit to three. A Harpring jumper and two Noelle Bofia buckets cut the deficit to one. Bofia scored six consecutive UNC points, including on a nice hook shot.
But Maryland went on a 10–4 run to take a seven-point lead on two Agara free throws with 3:31 left. Layups by Harpring and Brooks sliced UNC’s deficit to three with 1:40 left.
After two Lea Bartelme free throws with 48 seconds left for Maryland, Harpring’s 3-pointer from the left wing with 37 seconds left cut the Maryland lead to two. After Harpring’s late miss, Addi Mack made two free throws with 4.2 seconds left to seal the win for the Terps. Brooks air-balled a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
Banghart said the defense improved from the Davidson game, even if there were too many fouls at times, and she pointed to the rebounding (44–33) and points-in-the-paint deficits (32–26) as a product of playing without three rotation players.
“When we’ve got a full roster, I think we’ll be all right,” Banghart said. “We’ve got a six-five and a six-two that we didn’t dress.”
For Brooks, the late possessions were the reason the Tar Heels scheduled a top-20 opponent on the road in October, with Oklahoma looming in the season opener.
“That’s why we play exhibition games so we can learn literally in those moments,” Brooks said. “We came here to play hard teams like Maryland, and go at them. And obviously, they’re a dog team, so of course it was gonna be a close game. We’re just gonna learn from our mistakes and just move on.”
Banghart said the schedule leaves no room for easing into the season, and that Harpring will want that final shot back.
“We’re going to have one of the toughest schedules in the league and in the country every year, and if they don’t want that, they shouldn’t come,” Banghart said. “I think Kate’s gonna want that one back.”
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Notes
— Both teams open the season in Paris on Monday, Nov. 2, in the Oui-Play event, with Maryland taking on No. 1 South Carolina at noon ET (ESPN) and UNC facing No. 21 Oklahoma at 2:30 ET (ESPN2). The Sooners host Southern Nazarene in their only exhibition game at 2 p.m. Sunday.
— Carolina beat Maryland in Chapel Hill 74–66 in the second round of the NCAA tournament last season, and is 20–11 all-time in games that count.
— It was UNC’s first game in College Park since a 60–57 win on Jan. 3, 2013.
— Harpring, Brooks, Kelly and Akot started both exhibitions. Hull was the fifth starter against Davidson, and Queiroz was the fifth starter against Maryland.
— Queiroz was a team-high +7, with Harpring (+2) and Zubich (+2) the only other Tar Heels on the plus side. Hull was a team-low -14.
No. 20 Maryland 72, No. 12 UNC 68
| Date | Day/ month | Times/ scores | Opponent/event (current rank) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | |||
| 18 | Sunday | W, 76–66 | vs. Davidson | |
| 24 | Saturday | L, 72–68 | at No. 20 Maryland | |
| November | Regular season | |||
| 2 | Monday | 2:30 ET | Oui-Play in Paris vs. No. 21 Oklahoma | ESPN2 |
| 8 | Sunday | 5:30 | Ally Tipoff in Charlotte vs. No. 1 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. 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. 9 LSU | ESPN2 |
| 6 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Elon | ACCN |
| 9 | Wednesday | 11 a.m. | vs. Winthrop | ACCNE |
| 13 | Sunday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 25 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. 7 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. 13 Notre Dame | ESPN |
| 31 | Sunday | 5 p.m. | vs. No. 4 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. Virginia | ACCN |
| 28 | Sunday | 4 p.m. | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 3–7 | Wed.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
