No. 8 seed UNC women's basketball falls to No. 9 seed Miami in second round of ACC tournament

After leading by as many as 14 points in the second round of the ACC tournament, No. 8 seed UNC women's basketball found itself tied with No. 9 seed Miami. Just over four minutes remained. The Tar Heels were in the midst of an eventual 4-minute scoring drought despite plenty of opportunities in the paint. No bench points had been scored by the Tar Heels. And after a hard-fought rebound by senior small forward Alyssa Ustby the offensive glass, sophomore guard Indya Nivar air-balled a 3-pointer.

Simply put, it was looking bleak for North Carolina. And that was before the Hurricanes began to go to work near the rim.

First it was sophomore Lazaria Spearman. Then junior Latasha Lattimore added a bucket of her own, extending the Hurricanes' run to 11-0. Lattimore was awarded an and-one after being fouled by senior forward Alexandra Zelaya. The Tar Heels were also awarded a trip to the line in that same stretch as Spearman was called on a technical foul due to unnecessary contact with senior forward Anya Poole.

Despite multiple chances to overcome its deficit down the stretch, North Carolina squandered every single one en route to a second-round exit in the ACC tournament. The Tar Heels were held to just 22 points in the second half and missed 11 of their last 12 shots in the 60-59 loss on Thursday afternoon. This is the 18th game of UNC's season that's been decided by single digits. North Carolina is 9-9 in those games.

Speaking to the media after the loss, UNC head coach Courtney Banghart described the game as "heavy-weight fight." But it didn't have to get to that point.

“There’s no like, ‘Oh good, we’re up 10. Game over,’” Banghart said. “That just doesn’t exist in March."

Before the eventual defeat, North Carolina had signs of life late in the game. After two made free throws from UNC graduate guard Lexi Donarski with two minutes remaining, senior guard Deja Kelly soon scored a layup to cut the Tar Heels' deficit to one.

Then, Kelly had a chance to put UNC up 61-60 with just over a minute remaining, but her up-and-under layup hit the bottom of the backboard.

"I guess you can say it’s one of those days but I think the easy ones," Kelly said. "Those are the ones I should have made, especially at the rim."

The Tar Heels soon earned another opportunity as the team forced Miami's Ja'Leah Williams to travel and turn over the ball. UNC head coach Courtney Banghart called a timeout to draw up a game plan with 24 seconds remaining and North Carolina down by one point.

The Tar Heels quickly squandered their possession as Donarski attempted to feed junior forward Maria Gakdeng and had the ball swatted away by the Hurricanes' Jaida Patrick.

With just under 15 seconds remaining, Gakdeng fouled out. She exited after fouling Spearman — a 44 percent free throw shooter. Spearman missed both shots from the line, Donarski grabbed the rebound and, suddenly, North Carolina had yet another chance to regain the lead. 

But, once again, the Tar Heels turned the ball over after Poole was called for a moving screen. On the Miami in-bound pass, Williams traveled again, giving the ball back to UNC. Kelly went to work, attempting to manufacture a game-winner in the midrange. The Hurricanes' defense stood strong, allowing Miami to eke out the win.

“We were not gonna let Deja Kelly get the last shot,” Miami head coach Katie Meier said. 

Now, the Tar Heels await the announcement of the NCAA tournament field.

@shelbymswanson

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com 

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