DURHAM — Courtney Banghart stood at the front of the bench with her left hand up at her face and her index finger resting beside her mouth.
Every so often, the North Carolina women’s basketball head coach would bring her hands down and cross her arms. Banghart’s eyebrows would stitch together as she rocked the heel of her left pump.
It was evident Banghart was perplexed. Wouldn’t you be? After two ACC wins over Clemson and Virginia at home, there was an expectation that UNC would be able to perform well in Cameron Indoor Stadium, fueled by the fact that Duke fell to Clemson a few weeks prior.
But it didn't happen.
The Tar Heels lost to the Blue Devils, 71-61, in the 100th battle between the two teams, leaving the rivalry's overall record at 50-50. The nail in the coffin for UNC was the fact that the team shot a season-low 27.1 percent from the field, only making 19 of its 70 shots.
“I know there were a lot of people that were excited about that matchup, and I’m sorry we came out so flat,” Banghart said. “Those were two good teams, and one of them didn’t play well tonight.”
From an individual standpoint, senior guard Shayla Bennett leads the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.31), first-year forward Malu Tshitenge leads the ACC in offensive rebounding (4.32 per game) and junior center Janelle Bailey is second in rebounding (9.95 per game).
But that wasn’t the team fans saw inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“We were just two steps late,” Banghart said. “I wish it was one step, but it was two on both ends. We weren’t able to get bodies in front of the ball.”