UNC women's basketball's defensive performance, 13 steals overpower UNCG

Courtney Banghart wasn’t happy with her team’s energy midway through the second quarter.

With the fog of finals season personifying itself on the court, the head coach implemented a full-court press to animate her roster. 

“I thought they were a little lethargic,” Banghart said. “Not intentionally, it was just like their body was moving slower than their brains and so it was a way to get them moving differently.”

This change — along with a frequent 3-2 zone look — sparked a 20-5 scoring run in the second quarter and allowed No. 14 North Carolina to pull away from UNCG en route to an 80-56 victory on Wednesday night in Carmichael Arena. It was graduate forward Alyssa Ustby’s season-high four steals that led the defensive charge for UNC, as the team recorded 13 takeaways in total. 

Most of the talk about Ustby ahead of the season was her improvement on the offensive end. A revamped jumper from taking over 10,000 shots a week seemingly overshadowed her defensive ability.

The veteran forward put it on full display on Wednesday. 

She did so from the bottom of the 1-2-2 full-court press. Playing a defensive back-like role near the foul line, Ustby knew the ball could go one of two places. And when the half-court trap forced UNCG to throw up “loopy passes," Ustby was there to secure the interceptions. 

“Big credit to our front line of my teammates, because they made those steals possible for me,” Ustby said. 

One of the guards on the front line was junior Indya Nivar. She mentioned that the success of getting into passing lanes and forcing turnovers was a priority during the summer workouts. 

“We worked with [assistant coach Adrian Walters] making sure we're in those gaps, stunting at the drives and I think our positioning is what gets us those steals,” Nivar said. 

Yet, the two veterans weren’t the only Tar Heels making plays in the press. An 11-person rotation kept North Carolina’s defensive pressure active and fresh throughout the game. 

Nivar revealed how thankful she was for the breathers after only a few minutes of playing in the intense defensive scheme. She also noted how important a deep roster will be for preserving players’ bodies later on in the season — an issue UNC struggled with much of last year. 

“It takes a lot of energy to play in the in the full court for that long,” Banghart said. “Indya and Alyssa, who are excellent at it, it just wears them out after about four minutes. So it was good that we have more guys to go to”

When the Spartans did break the Tar Heel press, North Carolina’s half-court defense often added a second wrinkle for UNCG to deal with. 

A 3-2 zone with Ustby stationed near the block, forced several more turnovers for UNC. In total, the Spartans coughed it up 17 times, leading to 17 points for North Carolina on the offensive end. 

“That changed the intensity to slow them down, and that created some offense for us,” Ustby said. “We got a lot of steals and we got out [in transition]. So it just created more offense opportunities, because we picked it up on that end.” 

Banghart and her staff hope the defensive change didn’t just invigorate the Tar Heels for this game but will be a preview of the intensity North Carolina plays with as it heads into ACC play. 

She revealed how important gaining game reps as a team in the full-court press and zone was. This way, in matchups like tonight, Banghart can use certain defensive schemes as a remedy for slow starts. 

“It was also good to get reps at it,” Banghart said. “We know to win in the ACC we're going to have to play a variety of ways. So we wanted some live reps at doing things that we're going to need throughout the ACC season.” 

@cadeshoemaker23

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com