Tag: UNC Women’s Basketball

Courtney Banghart, UNC beat out UCONN for top recruit

Courtney Banghart and the UNC Women’s Basketball program just landed a big five-star recruit in the 2023 class.

The UNC women’s basketball team is coming off their best season in years, making it to the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual champion South Carolina. And now this offseason, the program took another step forward.

On Monday night, UNC landed a commitment from five-star post player [autotag]Ciera Toomey[/autotag]. The 6-foot-3, stretch five picked the Tar Heels over UCONN and six other schools, announcing her decision via Twitter.

Toomey is a five-star recruit that is the top player at her position and the No. 3 overall player in the 2023 class. Landing a player of this caliber is huge for the program, especially coming off a good 2022 recruiting cycle as well.

The job that Banghart has done in her time at UNC has been incredible, especially with where the program was at when she took over. A trip to the Sweet 16 is a heck of a start and now she’s getting it done on the recruiting trail as well.

UNC women’s basketball program punches ticket to Sweet 16

The UNC women’s basketball program punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 with a win over Arizona on Monday night.

The University of North Carolina basketball programs are feeling a little extra sweet this week.

Just a few days after the men’s program beat Baylor to earn a spot in the Sweet 16, the women’s program did the same. UNC’s 63-45 win on the road at No. 4 Arizona helped Courtney Banghart and her team reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 2015 season. It’s the 18th trip to the Sweet 16 for the Tar Heels as their impressive season continues on.

From the start, the Tar Heels looked like the better team jumping out to a 14-9 lead after one. They built on that lead and took a 28-17 at halftime over the Wildcats.

After a few runs by Arizona that cut the lead down just a tad, UNC was able to have a firm grip on the lead. And in the fourth quarter, they pulled away to earn the win.

Kennedy Todd-Williams led the way with 19 points while Deja Kelly added 15 and Alyssa Ustby added 12 points and had 12 rebounds. The Tar Heels shot 41.2 percent from the field and assisted on 15 of their 21 made field goals.

It was an all-around impressive game for Banghart’s team but the test gets tougher. UNC will take on No. 1 South Carolina in the Sweet 16.

UNC opens up tournament with win over SFA

Courtney Banghart and the UNC women’s basketball team opens up their NCAA Tournament with a win over Stephen F. Austin.

Just a few hours after the UNC men’s basketball team held off a furious Baylor comeback to beat the Bears in overtime, the women’s team opened up their tournament in Arizona.

The No. 5 seeded Tar Heels drew No. 12 Stephen F. Austin and found themselves trailing early in the first quarter. But Courtney Banghart’s team locked in and tied the game at 18 all at the end of the first quarter. After Stephen F. Austin took a three-point lead into the break and then led the Tar Heels 56-54 after three quarters, UNC went on a run in the fourth to seal the win.

UNC outscored Stephen F. Austin 25-10 in the final quarter to advance on to the round of 32 against No. 4 Arizona on Monday. That effort was led by Deja Kelly who scored 28 points in the win to lead all scorers. She went 8-of-15 from the field and drained four three-pointers to help UNC go on that fourth-quarter run.

Zya Nugent led Stephen F. Austin with 26 points as they controlled the game for the first three quarters.

Kennedy Todd-Williams scored 15 points while Alyssa Ustby and Carlie Littlefield added 13 each.

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