Ranked among the top 25 teams in the country, the UNC women's basketball program is off to a stellar start this season.
Courtney Banghart's squad might be the deepest team she's had thus far as the head coach at North Carolina, and the early record indicates that this group has a ton of potential moving forward. Before getting a small taste of conference play this weekend against No. 22-ranked Louisville, the Tar Heels hold a 9-2 record, with their lone losses coming against top-five caliber squads.
While most teams have one, maybe two, key players that they rely on, the Tar Heels' success has been much more of a combined effort, as evident by the team's consistency in getting multiple players involved offensively.
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Through 11 games, the Tar Heels have shown they can move the ball effectively. In fact, they have already had six games in which five players scored in double figures, and six different leading scorers.
To add to that, they also have five games in which they connected on 10+ three-point field goal attempts, proof that they can beat you in a variety of ways.
T E A M W O R K. pic.twitter.com/b56BKW9fB3
— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) December 11, 2025
Why is this so important?
Over the last few seasons, the program has heavily relied on a handful of players to carry the scoring load. From Deja Kelly to Alyssa Ustby, Maria Gakdeng and Lexi Donarski, they did an excellent job of putting the ball in the basket, but there were times where opponents made it a focal point to slow them down, forcing the Tar Heels to rely on other options.
In those instances, the depth wasn't necessarily there.
For this year's squad, essentially, anyone in the rotation can beat you on any given night.
Indya Nivar can go off for 15-20 points on any given night. Ciera Toomey has emerged as a front-court star for the Tar Heels. At the same time, the guard play, headlined by the likes of Elina Aarnisalo, Lanie Grant, Reniya Kelly, and others, have proven to not only be able to run the offense, but capitalize when their number is called.
Overall, it's been a genuine team effort for this group, one that is extremely fun to watch. If you haven't been watching, we suggest you start with Sunday afternoon's game, as Carmichael Arena will be rocking when Louisville comes to town for a battle between two top-25-ranked squads.