Fourth-quarter push falls short: 3 takeaways from UNC women’s basketball’s loss to UConn

North Carolina knew Friday night’s game against the University of Connecticut was going to be tough.

In what was technically a home game, First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro felt like a postseason venue: Emotions ran high — on the court and off — and both teams showed flashes of heroics usually reserved for March down the stretch.

In an early-season AP Top 25 battle that was originally slated for mid-December before ACC expansion forced a schedule adjustment, No. 14 UNC fell to No. 2 UConn, 69-58, in the Tar Heels’ first big test of the season.

“Geno (Auriemma) and I wanted this game to happen. We wanted to bring a game to Greensboro that would matter a ton to people,” UNC head coach Courtney Banghart said.

“I really want to give a shout out to the people that showed up. A lot of people showed up. We have a men’s game tonight. We know it’s a Friday at 6 p.m., kind of an odd time. Really grateful for the Tar Heel community from all over who showed up for this game. It’s what we, that’s what we envisioned. I’m really proud that it came to fruition.”

The game was close for roughly the first eight minutes, neither team leading by more than five points. A strong stretch spanning the first and second quarters, however, gave the Huskies a 20-point lead.

Carolina (3-1) added its own run late in the first half and cut the visitors’ lead to 12 points. But, once again, Final Four favorite UConn (3-0) stepped on the gas. UConn went zero to 60 to start the second half and looked like it was speeding out of the gym.

The Huskies regained a 20-point lead late in the third after Paige Bueckers hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game.

UNC found a flurry of offense to start the fourth, when Bueckers was on the bench, cutting the UConn lead to single digits. Then the Tar Heels went scoreless from the field for six minutes.

“I thought the fight was pretty consistent across the roster,” Banghart said after the game. “The fact that our seniors didn’t play well doesn’t mean they didn’t play hard. There’s a difference. They need to be responsible for the way they performed. They didn’t perform at the level we need them to perform. They know that, but I think the effort across the roster was pretty good.”

Junior Indya Nivar led the Tar Heels in scoring, recording 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Sophomore Ciera Toomey added 10 points. Bueckers led all scorers with 29 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. She shot 12 of 21 from the field and 4 of 8 from downtown.

Auriemma tied former Stanford head coach Tar VanDerveer for most wins (1,216) as a Division I college basketball coach with Friday’s win over UNC. Although he doesn’t put much stock in the individual accomplishments, they are “exceptionally proud” of their role growing women’s basketball.

“We played here in the NCAA Tournament in 2008. We beat Rutgers to go to the Final Four. There weren’t 10,000 people in the stands, I don’t think,” Auriemma said. “Here’s just a regular-season game on a Friday night and you have this. A lot has changed, and we’re proud of our part in it.”

Here are three takeaways from North Carolina’s loss:

UConn capitalizes on UNC defense

The Huskies wasted no time jumping on the Tar Heels, thanks to their own efficient shooting and Carolina’s defensive breakdowns.

UNC allowed 25 first-quarter points, including 16 from Bueckers. The Heels allowed just 50 points per game in their first three contests.

“I think Paige is probably the consensus No. 1 draft pick. That’s my own assessment,” Banghart said Thursday, before the teams played. “I think what makes her special is her ability to counter the reads that you give her. And so she’s not really a kid you can scheme a ton against, because if you do this, she’ll do that, and she reads it in live time.”

The Huskies guard looked like a future WNBA star from the tip. Bueckers opened the game with two straight scoring possessions and started the second half with an easy layup on the first possession.

Banghart noted Bueckers’ ability to create shots for her teammates, too, saying the Heels would need to play strong defense to slow down UConn. But they struggled for most of the game.

Between the middle of the first quarter and early second, the Huskies outscored UNC 18-5. Carolina held UConn under 15 points in the second and fourth quarters, and even slowed down Bueckers. The Tar Heels held the guard under 10 points in each of the remaining quarters, but they never fully stopped her from scoring or directing the offense to try and set others up for success.

“I think she’s the most difficult player to guard in America. Unfortunately, there may be nights like tonight when she’s going to have to be,” Auriemma said. “We started running every play for her there for a while in the third quarter and ... early fourth quarter.”

The Huskies dominated in just about every statistical category, and the Tar Heels didn’t have much power to stop them even during some of the better stretches. Most of Carolina’s major contributors finished with a defensive stop percentage under 50%, a stat that measures the rate of defensive possessions without an opponent basket. Only two Tar Heels with more than five minutes played finished with a rating of 70% or higher.

Turnovers for the Tar Heels

Carolina didn’t have the cleanest start: The Tar Heels committed seven turnovers in the first quarter, which the Huskies turned into eight points.

UNC entered the game averaging just 10.3 turnovers per game, ranking No. 8 in the nation. It committed 10 early in the second quarter, with the 11th coming two minutes into the second half.

“I think we were just trying to be aggressive, push the pace, and we just kind of got a little bit out of control,” North Carolina’s Indya Nivar said. “But, we settled down. We knew that we can’t keep making those turnovers, and we just got back to it.”

Banghart said the turnovers are a two-part problem. First, it’s decision making. Second, there’s an effort and “win-the-catch” portion.

“Two different times, we threw the ball in to Maria (Gakdeng), and I don’t know what happened, right? But that’s a win the catch,” Banghart said. “If it’s in your area and you’ve passed the ball, that’s a win the catch.”

UConn entered the game with 47 opponent turnovers, or 23.5 in its first two games of the season. Its defensive success in the opening frame put the team on pace to exceed its average.

Turnovers are bound to happen, but the Heels could’ve made things easier with more decisiveness and focus.

Carolina captains shut down

Alyssa Ustby and Lexi Donarski did far less than usual in the Tar Heels’ loss, unable to find a groove against the Huskies.

Ustby was held scoreless until midway through the second quarter and only took one shot in the first. Later in the second, UConn’s stifling defense led to an off-target hook shot.

Meanwhile, Donarski spent most of the first half on the bench after committing three fouls. The graduate student went 0 of 1 with one assist in the first half.

Ustby finished with three points. She went 1 of 9 from the field and pulled down seven rebounds, but committed four turnovers. Donarski scored five points.

“The seniors as a whole, they need to be better, quite frankly, and they need to take responsibility that they weren’t better as a whole,” Banghart said. “It’s easy to single out Alyssa, because she’s kind of done so much for us, and she continues to do so much for us. The fact that our seniors didn’t play well doesn’t mean they didn’t play hard. ... There’s a difference and Grace (Townsend) in the ‘really played great’ category, either. I don’t panic about them. They’ve got a lot of experience .. .they’ve gotta figure it out.”