Duo of Maria Gakdeng, Alyssa Ustby guide UNC women's basketball to win over Miami

Just over a minute into the game, graduate guard Lexi Donarski swung the ball to graduate forward Alyssa Ustby on the wing.

Senior center Maria Gakdeng established her position in the middle and got to the basket side of her defender.

Ustby lobbed the ball to Gakdeng, who created separation and finished at the rim. North Carolina took an early 2-0 lead but more importantly, established its dominant post presence early against the Miami Hurricanes. 

Rolling on the ground, fighting for the ball, taking charges and consistently rebounding encapsulated No. 17 North Carolina’s 69-60 win over Miami on Sunday at the Watsco Center — its first win at Miami since 2015. A strong front-court duo propelled the Tar Heels, as Gakdeng and Ustby both tallied double-doubles, contributing to the feisty win over the Hurricanes. A staggering 40 points came from Gakdeng and Ustby, who finished with 21 and 19, respectively. Ustby led the team with 13 rebounds, while Gakdeng brought down 12 boards of her own.

“[Gakdeng's] efficiency is remarkable,” head coach Courtney Banghart said. “She was exactly what we needed."

Then Banghart pointed to Ustby. "What you see on the other side of me: the relentlessness of a champion."

While those statistics are valuable to the Tar Heels, some key moments of momentum allowed them to soar over the Hurricanes and shut down the swiss army knife that is guard Haley Cavinder. 

While Cavinder finished with 19 points, her success was diminished by the captivating presence of Gakdeng, who fell one point shy of tying her career high of 22.

“I'm always calling for the ball, knowing that they're looking for me," Gakdeng said. "We practice that. We make sure that we work on close passes, finishing, knowing that I have a good touch, knowing that I can finish, run the floor, do everything I need to do for us to get a win."

North Carolina succeeded by finding Ustby and Gakdeng on the court, specifically in the paint. The Tar Heels finished with 40 points in the paint and shot 39 percent from the field. Though the game ended with a nine-point gap, UNC was up by 17 during the second quarter, naturally rounded out by a classic layup from Gakdeng. 

In the third quarter, Gakdeng scored six more points and tallied two offensive rebounds, reigniting something close to that 17-point lead as UNC entered the fourth quarter up by 15.

“I felt like our group as a whole did a really good job at assessing the game in live time and continually making Miami pay on the inside because they had no answer for Maria,” Ustby said. 

The lack of an answer for Gakdeng and Ustby became problematic for Miami late in the game as the Hurricanes dealt with foul trouble. They had no choice but to slow things down and try their best to defend with what they had. Ultimately, it was ineffective against a versatile Tar Heel team. North Carolina did not take pity on the Hurricanes as they let the clock run out in front of their eyes. 

While North Carolina had dominated in the post offensively throughout the game, Banghart wanted her team to gut the win out on the defensive end, with the focus on Gakdeng and Ustby leading the defensive effort.

“I wanted to really slow it down, I liked how we were defending," Banghart said. "They weren't getting any look they wanted in the fourth quarter, so I was using the clock and the time and trusting our defense even more so than our offense."

As the Tar Heels head into a big conference matchup against No. 3 Notre Dame, the inside presence will be key in guiding North Carolina to a resume building win.

@sofiaszostczuk

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com