Keeping It Heel
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UNC Women’s Basketball loses heartbreaker to FGCU

By Nick Delahanty

GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 03: Head coach Courtney Banghart of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts during the first half of their game against the Duke Blue Devils in the quarterfinals of the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum on March 3, 2023 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 03: Head coach Courtney Banghart of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts during the first half of their game against the Duke Blue Devils in the quarterfinals of the ACC Women's Basketball Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum on March 3, 2023 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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The Gulf Coast Showcase didn’t go as planned for the UNC women’s basketball program, as they will return home with back-to-back losses.

Welp.

The third-place game of the Gulf Coast Showcase came down to the wire, but it was the UNC women’s basketball program that came out on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

A back-and-forth affair throughout, a Kierra Adams basket in the paint with seven seconds remaining proved to be the difference, as Deja Kelly missed a jumper as time expired to end it. Lexi Donarski made a shot following the miss, but it was ruled that she did not get the shot off before the time expired.

The UNC women’s basketball program was in the game thanks to strong performances from Kelly and junior transfer Maria Gakdeng.

Kelly scored a game-high 24 points while connecting on seven of her 15 shot attempts, while Gakdeng was perfect from the field, finishing the night with 22 points and 9 rebounds.

Other than the aforementioned duo, the rest of the team struggled, combining for just 18 points.

Foul trouble came back to haunt the Tar Heels, as Alyssa Ustby was limited to just three points while Kayla McPherson only added one point of her own. As a team, the Tar Heels missed 9 of 29 free throw attempts, six of which were missed by Kelly (arguably the team’s best free-throw shooter).

The weekend certainly didn’t go as planned for the Tar Heels, who now have a short amount of time to return home to prepare for a visit from No. 1-ranked South Carolina on Thursday. Although the UNC women’s basketball program wished for better results this weekend, the hope is that it will fuel this group for better results as they get deeper into non-conference action.

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