No. 15 UNC women's basketball downs Charleston So, 83-53, to open regular season

The No. 15 UNC women’s basketball team (1-0) defeated Charleston Southern (0-1), 83-53, on Monday morning in Carmichael Arena.

The Tar Heels dominated the Buccaneers. With the help of 32 bench points, the Tar Heels pulled away in the second quarter and never looked back. Graduate forward Alyssa Ustby’s eight rebounds pushed her to the top-ten in all-time rebounds at North Carolina.  

North Carolina got out to an early 7-2 lead with the help of sophomore guard Reniya Kelly. She hit a long jumper, then a 3-pointer on UNC’s next possession. 

“There’s nothing like making a three at Carmichael on a game day,” Ustby said.

After the early spurt, the Tar Heels didn’t score for two minutes, but kept Charleston Southern off the board, recording a steal. 

With two minutes left in the first quarter and the Tar Heels leading 17-11, the Buccaneers hit a three to cut the lead. On the next possession, a Charleston Southern steal led to a layup in transition to bring them within one. But junior guard Trayanna Crisp responded with a long three to bring North Carolina’s lead to four. 

UNC started to pull away halfway through the second quarter. Senior center Maria Gakdeng missed a layup, but got her own rebound and dropped it in. After giving up a guarded three on the other end, Ustby ran up the middle and finished through contact for an and-1 to extend the lead to eight. 

“I felt like this group has done a really great job of getting out and running,” Ustby said. “We have a lot of ball handlers that can bring the ball up against pressure, especially, so that definitely helps us keep an up tempo pace.”

The Tar Heels went on an 8-2 run to end the half at 38-23. Their final score came with 56 second left when Crisp stepped through defenders and drained a right handed hook shot as she fell down. 

North Carolina started the second half strong. On the first possession, graduate guard Lexi Donarski knocked the ball out of a Charleston Southern player’s hand near midcourt and finished with a layup on the fast break. 

“I think a lot of our talk at halftime was that our defensive intensity needed to take a step forward,” Donarski said. “And I feel like we came out in the second half, both the third and the fourth quarter, and really stepped that up all together.”

Then, after a missed Buccaneer jumper on the other end, Donarski drained a three. 

Charleston Southern responded, hitting three quick layups to cut the lead to 14, including one off of a turnover by Gakdeng. 

But the Tar Heels’ lead continued to work. Redshirt first-year Laila Hull scored her first career points seconds after being subbed, notching a three from the top of the perimeter. 

With 3:40 left in the game, Hull grabbed a loose ball off the floor and broke away, passing the ball to sophomore guard Sydney Barker, who put in the left side layup for her first points of the season. 

North Carolina was dominant in the fourth quarter, holding Charleston Southern to 32 percent shooting and recording 10 fast break points. 

“Our aggressive mentality defensively led for them to kind of put the ball down and just attack, right,” head coach Courtney Banghart said. “Which is not necessarily how they want to play.”

UNC will be back in action at Carmichael Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m. against UNCW at home.

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