A 5-0 start from the UNC women's basketball program was about as good as it got as the Tar Heels fell to NC State in the ACC Tournament semifinals. North Carolina will now wait to see if they will get a three or four seed, and the hosting privilege that comes with it.
After UNC's 5-0 start, NC State went on a 21-0 run that ran out the first quarter, and 2:27 of the second quarter for a grand total of 10 minutes and 51 seconds of scoreless Tar Heel basketball. After that, the game was all but decided, as UNC never looked offensively cohesive enough to come out ahead.
Indya Nivar did her best to make a final push, scoring 13 consecutive UNC points in the fourth quarter, but eventually ran out of gas, missing some point blank lay-ups and leaving free throws short at the rim. Nivar led North Carolina scorers with 13 points total.
For the Wolfpack, star guard Aziaha James played like a woman possessed, scoring 19 points, including a perfect 8/8 shooting performance from the free-throw line. James and her teammates were tougher than Carolina, getting several jump ball calls by jumping into Tar Heel laps and grabbing the ball.
James was an absolute star on the afternoon, but diminished herself a bit during the halftime interview when she falsely accused Maria Gakdeng of intentionally fouling her. James went to the locker room for a period holding her head after crashing into Gakdeng while trying to run around a screen. Saying someone intentionally harmed you is quite the accusation, and I wish James could have omitted that from her comments.
UNC looked dead on their feet all game, so perhaps it's not the worst thing in the world to head back to Chapel Hill to lick their wounds and see if they'll host a regional at Carmichael Arena. Alyssa Ustby and Reniya Kelly are both returning from injury and need to reintegrate with the team. The everyday grind of the ACC Tournament isn't the best way to get back in game shape.
Let's see where the Tar Heels end up in the NCAA Tournament!