In a night full of ACC women’s basketball upsets, No. 13 UNC dropped its conference opener to Florida State for a second straight loss.
The Tar Heels were the last ACC team to begin conference play when they hosted FSU following the holiday break.
Coming off of an 8-point loss to Michigan that dropped the team from No. 6 in the AP Poll to their current spot at No. 13, it was assumed that they were desperate for a win. However, following the second consecutive defeat, head coach Courtney Banghart said results aren’t the only thing her team values.
“You’re not going to go undefeated in the ACC,” Banghart said. “It can’t only be about results. It has to be about who you are and how you progress and how that drives you to the next opportunity.”
Banghart was confident in her statement that the team would likely have more ACC losses before the season was completed, a familiar sentiment that she first shared at ACC Tipoff back in October.
“For the first time in a long time, the road could have multiple losses,” Banghart told reporters at ACC Tipoff.
Thursday’s games proved to many teams that going undefeated in the ACC is unlikely. Along with North Carolina’s 78-71 loss to Florida State, No. 6 N.C. State fell to ACC rival Duke, No. 7 Virginia Tech lost to Clemson and No. 5 Notre Dame barely slid by with a 3-point win over Miami.
In UNC’s upset loss, which served as its first home loss of the season, the main problem was shooting. The Tar Heels shot only 17 percent from three and had 5 second-chance points compared to the Seminoles’ 37.
The striking difference in second-chance points demonstrates that the North Carolina defense struggled as well. The defensive performance was a downgrade from last season, during which UNC led the ACC and were fourth in the country in defense efficiency, keeping opponents to an average .77 points per possession.
