UNC Women's Basketball's season ends in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament

The UNC women's basketball program's season has come to an end, as the Tar Heels suffered a loss to No. 1-overall seeded South Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon.

Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks proved why they are the clear No. 1-team in the land, as they simply had their way against the Tar Heels. Not much went right for North Carolina in this game, which kind of sums up how the entire season has gone.

Heading into the season, there were high expectations for this group, one that we essentially never saw healthy at the same time. Just look at the two matchups against South Carolina as a prime example:

In the first meeting, North Carolina had the luxury of playing 10 different players.
In the latest meeting, the Tar Heels were missing three of those players (all of whom were key contributors), as the depleted roster (especially at the guard position) was something that haunted them essentially all season long.

Deja Kelly had to resume the role as the primary ball-handler, as the hope was that she could play more off the ball to allow her scoring ability to be more on display. Unfortunately, the injuries began to stack up, as Courtney Banghart and crew had to essentially adjust on the fly.

Considering everything they dealt with this season, winning 20 games is a rather impressive feat. It wasn't the mark that anyone was looking for, but is one that you can say is a success given the circumstances,

Now, the attention turns to the future, as some major decisions loom over the next few weeks.

Will Deja Kelly and Alyssa Ustby return for a fifth (and final) season?
Will any of the current players leave via the transfer portal?
How about the injury statuses of Kayla McPherson and Reniya Kelly?
Similar to last year, will Banghart attack the portal for some veteran help?

So many questions that will definitely be answered soon. For now, let's just take a moment to appreciate the efforts of the players from this season, as their hard work and dedication to the program shouldn't go unnoticed.