On Monday evening, while many Tar Heels fans had their eyes on the men’s team’s game against Syracuse, the women’s team pulled out its biggest win of the season in Raleigh.
Courtney Banghart’s group trailed
NC State by as many as nine points in the second quarter before outscoring the Wolfpack 26-11 over the rest of the half and the third quarter. A late surge by NC State cut a 10-point lead to two with just under a minute left in the game, and a turnover with 10 seconds to go gave the Wolfpack a chance at a buzzer-beater, but the Tar Heels buckled down to force a miss.
It was Carolina’s first win at NC State since the 2018-19 season–the year before Banghart arrived–and, crucially, its first Quad 1 win of the season. UNC had been 0-4 in Q1 games and was the highest-ranked team in the NET Rankings without a Q1 win at #22, so this provides a major boost to the Tar Heels’ resume.
The result also had a significant impact on the ACC standings, with Carolina now tied for third on losses. The Tar Heels sit 7-3, with NC State, Syracuse, Virginia Tech all 8-3. Louisville and Duke are tied for first at 11-0. UNC has three games remaining against that group: at Duke on Feb. 15, at Virginia Tech on Feb. 19, and against Duke at home on March 1.
The Tar Heels have now won five straight games since a rough loss at Notre Dame on Jan. 11. Their remaining schedule isn’t a cakewalk, but if they can get through it without taking more than one or two losses, they’ll have a great shot at a top-three seed in the ACC Tournament. Being able to hang on and win in what has been a very tough environment to play in for Carolina, along with the emergence of players like sophomore Lanie Grant–who’s averaged 15 points in her last four games after averaging 8.6 in her first 17 this season–suggests this team might still be climbing toward its peak.
The UNC women next take the court on Thursday at home against Clemson. The game starts at 6:00 PM and will be broadcast on ACC Network.
