Category: Women’s basketball

Special moments as Carolina’s women earn Sweet 16 berth

Players live for the sort of moments Carolina’s women’s team experienced Monday night. For the talented sophomore class that battled through a 13–11 freshman season that ended with a first-round NCAA tournament loss to Alabama, the road to a Sweet 16 berth was long but the realization of that accomplishment was thrilling. When third-year UNC coach Courtney Banghart took Deja Kelly out late in the game, there was one of those moments. The player and the coach she trusted so much that the Texas high school star committed to be a Tar Heel exchanged some emotional words.

UNC women roll into first Sweet 16 in 7 years with relentless defense

Carolina’s relentless defense has been frustrated many opponents all season. Add Arizona to that list, and put the Tar Heels down for their first Sweet 16 in seven years.

UNC held the Wildcats scoreless for nearly 11½ first-half minutes to take control on their way to a 63–45 true road victory Monday night in Tucson, Ariz., in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

UNC women face hostile road crowd at Arizona, talented Wildcats team

North Carolina faces a challenging scenario for Monday night’s second-round NCAA women’s tournament game that never happens in the men’s tournament. The No. 5-seed and 17th ranked Tar Heels (24–6) will have to beat No. 4-seed and 19th-ranked Arizona (21–7) on the Wildcats’ homecourt before a crowd of likely more than 10,000 at the McKale Center to earn their first Sweet 16 berth since 2015. They’ll also have to get by a team with a talented backcourt and a tall, imposing group of post players.

Kelly hits 28 as UNC women storm by SFA with huge fourth quarter

North Carolina showed again what it has done many times when facing adversity this season: Handle it, show poise, take control and leave the opponent reeling. A sensational 28-point game from Deja Kelly, an animated halftime speech from third-year UNC coach Courtney Banghart and a decisive 14–3 fourth-quarter run ensured the first NCAA tournament win for her and all of her players.

UNC women have been poised against the kind of relentless pressure defense Stephen F. Austin likely to apply

Many opponents thought they could apply pressure defense on Carolina’s women, force turnovers and dictate the play. That hasn’t worked out well most of the season. No. 12-seed Stephen F. Austin (28–4) is the latest team that will likely give that strategy a shot when it faces the No. 5-seed and 17th-ranked Tar Heels (23–6) at 7:30 Saturday night in Tucson, Ariz., (ESPN News) in the first round of the NCAA Greensboro Region.

Banghart had to get creative with 15-day break between ACC and NCAA tournament games

While most men’s teams play their NCAA tournament openers a few days after their conference tournaments, most women’s teams don’t even know their tournament draw for a week afterward. It’s an odd dynamic that women’s coaches have to deal with on an annual basis and this is the 10th time for North Carolina’s third-year coach Courtney Banghart and the second time for most of her players.

UNC women earn highest NCAA seed in 7 years

CHAPEL HILL — All season, Coach Courtney Banghart has talked about her Carolina women’s basketball team’s connectedness, and the players’ enthusiasm for what’s ahead was obvious as they gathered at Top of the Hill restaurant to see where their March journey starts. Carolina’s breakout season will continue as the No. 5-seed in the Greensboro Region of the NCAA tournament, facing No. 12-seed Stephen F. Austin (28–4) Saturday in the first round in Tucson, Ariz. Should the Tar Heels advance to the second weekend, they would play in Greensboro. The top seed in the region is No. 1-ranked South Carolina.

UNC forces OT with buzzer-beater but Hokies win it at line

GREENSBORO — Kids can lighten up even the most frustrating days and Coach Courtney Banghart’s three children soothed her and the team after No. 16 Carolina’s unexpected early exit from the ACC Tournament. With one seven-year-old twin son, Eli, on her lap, the other, Tucker, on Alyssa Ustby’s lap and Banghart’s six-year-old daughter Gray on Deja Kelly’s lap, the coach and players talked in the postgame press conference about how Friday’s quarterfinal game with No. 21 Virginia Tech went awry in overtime for an 87–80 quarterfinals loss.

Better defense important for UNC’s women against Hokies

GREENSBORO — The obvious goal for No. 16 North Carolina in Friday’s quarterfinal matchup with No. 21 Virginia Tech is to make it more like their first regular-season game and less like the rematch. The No. 4-seed Tar Heels (23–5) blew out the No. 5-seed Hokies 71–46 on Jan. 6 in Chapel Hill with a potent transition game and suffocating defense. In Blacksburg on Feb. 13, though, hot-shooting Virginia Tech (22–8) won a much-more physical game 66–61.