Tag: UNC Women’s Basketball

UNC basketball announces representatives for ACC Media Day

The attendees for the 2023 ACC Media Days for the UNC basketball program have been revealed.

Before the 2023-24 college basketball season can officially begin, conferences will host their annual media days. That includes the Atlantic Coast Conference which will descend on Charlotte to host media days at Hilton Charlotte Uptown.

With two days of coverage for both the men’s and women’s programs in the conference, there will be a lot to report on. And for the North Carolina Tar Heels, they will be well represented.

The ACC announced the representatives for each team at the event including men’s and women’s programs. For North Carolina, the men will be represented by Armando Bacot and R.J. Davis, the two lone returning starters from last year’s team.

As for the women, they will send Deja Kelly and Alyssa Ustby to the event as they enter a season with high expectations under Courtney Banghart.

Both teams will also have their head coaches at the event to answer questions as well. To see the full list of attendees, check out the ACC’s official site.

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UNC women’s basketball program cracks preseason AP Top 25 poll

The UNC women’s basketball program cracked the first Associated Press Top 25 poll for the preseason.

Courtney Banghart and the North Carolina Tar Heels women’s basketball team is looking to make another run at the NCAA Tournament. After reaching the Sweet 16 two seasons ago, the Tar Heels were bounced earlier last season with a loss to Ohio State.

But this year, the expectations are even higher to make another run and they will start the season as a ranked program.

The preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll has officially been released and the Tar Heels cracked the Top 20. UNC checks in at No. 16 overall in the first poll of the season.

North Carolina is the third highest-ranked ACC program to appear in the poll, trailing No. 8 Virginia Tech and No. 10 Notre Dame for the first poll of the season.

UNC will open the season on November 8th as they host Gardner Webb. From there, they will host Davidson, Hampton, and Elon before playing a road game.

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UNC women’s basketball squad hoping transfer portal helps this season

Iowa State transfer Lexi Donarski and Boston College transfer Maria Gakdeng both bring talent and experience to the UNC women’s hoops team.

UNC’s men’s basketball team might get a majority of the hoops attention at the school, but don’t overlook the uber-talented women’s squad.

After not making a single NCAA Tournament from 2016-2018, the Tar Heels have made the last four, including a trip to the second round last year against Ohio State.

Carolina should have another strong campaign this upcoming season, with team captains Deja Kelly and Alyssa Ustby headlining the returners. The Tar Heels also experienced what seemingly every team faces nowadays – loss of players to the transfer portal, headlined by the loss of Kennedy Todd-Williams.

What Carolina lost in Todd-Williams, they gained in Lexi Donarski and Maria Gakdeng.

Donarski, the Iowa State grad transfer, is ranked sixth on the ESPN Women’s Hoops’ Top 35 most impactful transfers list. The reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, who also averaged 13.2 points per game, will likely slot into Todd-Williams’ starting spot.

“A Cyclones mainstay is moving east after 95 starts, 13.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, plus a 2022 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year,” ESPN said about Donarski. “Tar Heels coach Courtney Banghart will lean heavily on that level of experience, and her backcourt, with Donarski joining Deja Kelly, has started 182 combined college games. Donarski’s 12.1 PPG last season was a career low, but if she recaptures the 41.1% 3-point shooting she had as a freshman, it will go a long way toward UNC replacing the production of graduate Eva Hodgson (41.7% on 3-point shooting).

Gakdeng will likely finish up her college career in Chapel Hill, as she is entering Junior year. Gakdeng, the 6’3″ forward/center and former McDonalds All-American, was named to the All-ACC Freshman Team in 2022. Her 1.8 blocks per game ranked third in the ACC last year.

“Gakdeng was one of the league’s best interior defenders immediately upon her arrival in the ACC,” ESPN said about Gakdeng. “Now she will just be protecting the rim in Chapel Hill instead of Chestnut Hill. The Tar Heels were already the fourth-stingiest defense in the conference. Now with Donarski and Gakdeng, they should be even tougher to score against. Gakdeng’s 1.8 blocks per game ranked third in the ACC, and her 11.3 points per game were second on the Eagles.”

It’ll be exciting to see how the two new transfers mesh with the rest of UNC’s starting lineup. Fans will get their first taste at the new-look Tar Heel squad on Wednesday, Nov. 8, as Carolina welcomes Gardner-Webb to Carmichael Arena.

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UNC women’s basketball schedule now complete

The UNC women’s basketball team can begin making final preparations for its season, as its ACC schedule was announced on Tuesday.

It was a tough ending last year for the UNC women’s basketball team, which came seconds away from an upset of Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament.

The Tar Heels were one of seven ACC schools to reach double-digits in conference wins, along with Miami, Louisville, Florida State, Duke, Virginia Tech and Notre Dame. UNC was one of eight to make the Big Dance.

Deja Kelly and Alyssa Utsby headline this year’s roster, which has a young look with seven underclassmen.

Carolina can now officially begin make game preparations, as its ACC schedule was released on Tuesday.

UNC opens up its season against Gardner-Webb on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at Carmichael Arena. The Tar Heels stay at home through Thanksgiving Break, when they head to Florida for the Gulf Coast Showcase.

After concluding its non-conference schedule with a neutral-site matchup against Oklahoma in the Tuesday, Dec. 19 Jumpman Invitational, Carolina hosts Clemson at noon on New Years’ Eve to open up ACC play. The Tar Heels play an even nine conference games at home and on the road, concluding with a visit from archrival Duke on Sunday, March 3.

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UNC women’s basketball team reveals non-conference slate

The UNC women’s basketball team’s non-conference schedule includes a slew of powerful opponents, most notably South Carolina and UConn.

Though it’s still a couple months away, college basketball season will be here before everyone knows it.

Teams are starting to find out some of their opponents and game dates. UNC’s women’s basketball squad happens to be one of those teams. Days after finding out they’d be playing in the Clean Simple Eats Gulf Coast Showcase over Thanksgiving weekend, the Heels now have the entire list of their non-conference opponents.

Carolina starts off by hosting reigning Big South champion Gardner-Webb on Wednesday, Nov. 8. They’ll host Davidson four days later, Hampton University on Nov. 15 and Elon on Saturday, Nov. 18.

After the Thanksgiving weekend tournament, the Heels return to Chapel Hill on Thursday, Nov. 30 and host South Carolina, arguably the best current program in women’s college basketball.

Rounding out UNC’s non-conference schedule are a home contest against UNC-Greensboro on Wednesday, Dec. 6, a road clash with national power UConn in the Hall of Fame Women’s showcase four days later, Western Carolina at home on Dec. 15 and Oklahoma in Charlotte’s (city, not the school) Jumpman Classic on Dec. 19.

By the time ACC play rolls around, UNC will certainly be battle-tested. They face the 2022 national champions in South Carolina and 11-time champions in UConn.

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Women’s basketball prepared to face tough competition in Thanksgiving tourney

The UNC women’s basketball team, coming off its third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, will play in a Thanksgiving tournament this year.

The University of North Carolina women’s basketball team came within a couple points of upsetting Ohio State and moving onto the Sweet 16 in last year’s NCAA tournament.

Carolina clawed back from a double-digit deficit to take a late lead, only for Ohio State’s Jacy Shelton to sink a game-winner with seconds remaining and ending all hope for Tar Heels fans. The third-seeded Buckeyes won, 71-69.

This year, UNC is hoping to finally make a push for the Sweet 16 and possibly more. It’d be a fourth-straight NCAA appearance, something not done since a string of eight straight from 2002-2009.

The Heels will be tested early in the season, as they head to Florida’s Gulf Coast over Thanksgiving Weekend for the Clean Simple Eats Gulf Coast Showcase from Friday, Nov. 24-Sunday, Nov. 26.

Carolina’s first matchup of the 3-day Holiday tournament is against Vermont (Friday, Nov. 24 at 1:30 p.m.). This is the two teams’ first time playing each other. Vermont, which won the America East Conference Tournament last year, lost to national power UConn in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Also in the field is Kansas State and Western Kentucky, Florida Gulf Coast, Delaware, Iowa and Purdue-Fort Wayne. Iowa lost in the 2023 NCAA Championship game to Angel Reese-led LSU.

Carolina, led by two All-ACC selections in Deja Kelly and Alyssa Utsby, will almost certainly be tested in this early-season tourney.

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Courtney Banghart starts her journey as president of WBCA

North Carolina women’s basketball coach Courtney Banghart starts her journey as Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) president.

North Carolina women’s basketball coach Courtney Banghart has cranked up her two-year term as Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) president.

Banghart started her tenure by presiding over her first in-person board meeting. Banghart continues to put her Tar Heel stamp on women’s basketball, working her way up the leadership ladder after spending two years as the Vice President of the WBCA.

In a press release done by Go Heels, Banghart explains what the honor means to her to represent women collegiate basketball coaches.

“The sport of women’s basketball is at such an exciting time,” Banghart said. “Serving our organization in this capacity is both an honor and a responsibility, and it will get my best. I look forward to working with our coaches to ensure this inflection point for our sport is fully realized.”

Women’s basketball continues to grow, with more eyes on the product than ever before. Last season, the LSU vs. Iowa NCAA championship game set a new viewership record (9.9 million), a 103% increase in viewership from a year prior to the South Carolina vs. UConn game (4.85 million).

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North Carolina women’s basketball adds Andrew Graber to staff

The North Carolina women’s basketball team named Andrew Graber the new Head Strength and Conditioning Coach.

The North Carolina women’s basketball program named Andrew Graber the new Head Strength and Conditioning Coach.

Graber has been a program member, working as support staff for the last two seasons. In a press release by Go Heels, UNC women’s basketball coach Courtney Banghart explained what it meant to have Graber transition into the head strength and conditioning coach.

“I’m proud of our program and the women in it that we were able to attract such a talented applicant pool,” Banghart said. “Sport science is the future of athletic performance training and Andrew is so versed in the software and the application of it. He has a national championship as a lead strength coach, and he has run the sport science programming for numerous sports teams. He will help with feedback – and feeding forward – as we develop our daily, weekly and monthly plans together to put our student-athletes in the best possible position for success.

UNC went 22-11 last season, dominating at home with a 13-2 record in Carmichael Arena. The season ended in a heart-wrenching defeat to Ohio State, losing 71-69 in round two of the NCAA tournament.

This upcoming season is expected to be fruitful, especially with some of the games already announced, like the showdown on November 30th against South Carolina.

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Carmichael Arena will undergo upgrades this summer

Carmichael Arena is set to upgrade to help enhance the atmosphere for women’s basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, and wrestling events.

After a season of sellouts, largely thanks to the North Carolina women’s basketball program, Carmichael Arena will undergo serious upgrades per the school.

This morning it was announced that the experience at Carmichael will be “enhanced” for fans as they made some significant changes. The upgrades include installing new LED video boards for women’s basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, and wrestling events.

In the press release, Carolina Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham explained why the school had taken steps to enhance the experience at Carmichael Arena.

We want to make our game day experience as energetic, memorable, and as fun as it can be for our student-athletes, coaches, and community, and these upgrades are a huge step forward,” said Cunningham. “Our staff is already planning creative ways to use the new lighting systems and video displays, and we will continue to evaluate the in-game experience at Carmichael Arena to draw new visitors and keep our fans coming back.”

The upgrades are expected to be completed this Fall.

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UNC women’s basketball to host South Carolina

The UNC women’s basketball program will host South Carolina in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

The first year of the ACC/SEC challenge is set to take place this season as we will get to see some non-conference battles between programs that often don’t meet in the regular season.

While the North Carolina men’s basketball program will host Tennessee, the women will also be at home and will host a power program. The Tar Heels are set to host a South Carolina program that has been among the best in women’s college basketball over the past few seasons.

The Tar Heels and Gamecocks will meet on Thursday, Nov. 30th at 7 p.m. ET in Carmichael Arena for the challenge game. Broadcast information will be released at a later date.

This will be the 21st meeting between the two programs with UNC holding a 11-9 lead all-time. But this will be the first meeting at a non-neutral site since Jan. 4 1989 when South Carolina beat North Carolina 98-71.

The last time the two teams met was in the Sweet 16 of the 2022 NCAA Tournament with the Gamecocks winning 69-61. South Carolina would end up winning the National Championship that season.

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