UNC Women's Basketball opens up ACC Tournament play against Miami
Courtney Banghart and the UNC women's basketball program are ready to kick off postseason play on Thursday afternoon, as they'll take on Miami in the second round of the 2024 ACC Tournament, held in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Thursday, March 7, 2024. UNCWBBMIAMI. 19-11. 441. . 834. ACC Network. 1:30 PM EST. 18-11
The Tar Heels are coming off a huge victory on 'Senior Day' against rival Duke, and will look to make some noise in postseason action. Miami is the first team in their way, as it will be a rematch between the two squads from a few weeks ago.
In the original meeting on January 25, the UNC women's basketball program survived with a 66-61 victory over the Hurricanes. Deja Kelly's 18 points led all scorers, as the Tar Heels had five players score in double figures.
With a win, the Tar Heels would advance to the quarterfinals for a third meeting with Virginia Tech, the No. 1 seed in this year's event.
Key to Victory for North Carolina
Shooting under 50% at the free throw line isn't going to cut it.
The Tar Heels struggled at the charity strike in the win against Duke, as they are fortunate that it didn't come back to haunt them as they closed out the regular season.
In postseason play, North Carolina needs to be better at the line. Simple as that.
Something to Watch For
This type of tournament differs from regular season play, given you potentially may have to play on consecutive days if you continue to win.
For this Tar Heels team, depth has been an issue due to various injuries throughout the season.
How Courtney Banghart manages each player's workload will be interesting to see, especially with regard to Deja Kelly and Lexi Donarski, two players who seemingly don't come off the floor.
In order to keep them fresh, can the Tar Heels find ways to squeeze stretches where they can at least catch a breather?
Projected Starters
No. 1 Alyssa Ustby (Sr. 6-1) 12.3 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 3.6 apg
No. 5 Maria Gakdeng (Jr. 6-3) 9.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 0.5 apg
No. 20 Lexi Donarski (Gr. 6-0) 10.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.3 apg
No. 24 Indya Nivar (So. 5-10 ) 6.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.4 apg
No. 25 Deja Kelly (Sr. 5-8) 16.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.4 apg