Turnovers impede No. 8 UNC women's basketball in loss to No. 16 Duke

DURHAM — Head coach Courtney Banghart already knew how Duke liked to run its offense: get out in transition and grab offensive rebounds. 

To counteract these productive areas for the Blue Devils, Banghart had two specific departments where she wanted UNC to execute in Cameron Indoor Stadium. 

“Those were sort of the statistics we were caring about: how can we take care of the ball in this type of environment, and can we keep them off the glass?” Banghart said. “I thought we were OK. Not good enough.”

Those two metrics Banghart wanted her squad to emphasize became the two metrics that plagued North Carolina the most on Thursday night. In No. 8 UNC’s 68-53 loss to No. 16 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Tar Heels committed 20 turnovers and were out-rebounded 14-to-6 on the offensive glass. Without two key pieces in the starting lineup, UNC especially struggled to handle the ball, particularly in a game-sealing third quarter. 

Before three minutes had elapsed in the second half, North Carolina called a timeout. The Tar Heels had failed to record a field goal and turned the ball over three times in those opening possessions. The Blue Devils, on the other hand, were led by Reigan Richardson who scored all of Duke's eight points during that brief stretch.

UNC was outscored 21-9 in that third quarter. Carelessness and lack of fight quickly became a consistent theme for the remainder of the game. The Tar Heels were never able to come back.

Graduate forward Alyssa Ustby has not played since suffering a lower body injury in UNC’s win over N.C. State on February 16. Ustby leads North Carolina in rebounding, averaging 9.4 a game.

On Thursday, Banghart also decided to sit sophomore guard Reniya Kelly, who has served as North Carolina's point guard and had back-to-back 20-point performances in the last two games.

In the absence of these two playmakers, the ball was controlled by other players, like graduate guard Grace Townsend and first-year guard Lanie Grant, who started in place of Ustby and Kelly. However, Duke — the second-best defensive team in the ACC behind North Carolina — used a fast pace to hurry and disrupt the UNC offense.

“I had the ball in my hands quite a lot," Grant said. "So I take responsibility for most of those.”

In that third quarter, Grant committed two turnovers. Townsend and senior center Maria Gakdeng each had three. The Tar Heels committed 10 turnovers just in the third quarter. 

Townsend and Gakdeng ended the game with six and five, respectively. Only two out of the nine Tar Heels who saw the court did not commit a turnover — graduate guard Lexi Donarski and first-year center Blanca Thomas. 

Kelly and Ustby each average over 27 minutes per contest. Without these two, Banghart said that UNC lacked a “rhythm” and a “maturity” in its various lineups.

“There’s a rhythm to your offense,” Banghart said. “And so then, when you take someone who sort of runs the tempo of the team and you have her on the sideline, that rhythm is already a bit disrupted.”

Still, despite the team’s execution, Banghart knows Ustby and Kelly will be back, and so will the UNC offense. She could have tossed the blame from one inexperienced ball handler to the next, but Banghart instead took a positive view and reflected on North Carolina’s last meeting against Duke. 

“We actually had, what, 26 [turnovers] last time [against Duke],” Banghart said. “So this is an improvement.”

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