Preview: UNC women's basketball's path to an ACC Championship trophy

The ACC women’s basketball tournament bracket was finalized on Sunday night, awarding UNC the No. 5 seed and a first-round bye.

The Tar Heels will play Thursday morning against either 12th-seeded Boston College or 13th-seeded Syracuse in First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro.

After North Carolina’s loss to Virginia on Sunday afternoon, UNC's performance in the ACC tournament will have big implications for hosting rights in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. 

While Sunday's defeat took UNC out of double-bye contention and reduced the team’s preparation time, head coach Courtney Banghart said every day is about preparing for the tournament and becoming healthy again. Graduate forward Alyssa Ustby and sophomore guard Reniya Kelly's statuses are currently unknown. 

Ustby has missed four games since exiting in the opening minutes of the N.C. State win in February. Kelly has been absent from two games. 

“We think we’ll be healthier by then, and that will help because then you get more minutes that you can spread across and more options,” Banghart said after the loss to Virginia. “When a guy goes 1-8, we can’t absorb that as well as we could have with our depth in the past.” 

The Tar Heels will have to win four games in four days to become ACC tournament champions for the first time since 2008. Here is a look at some of their potential opponents. 

Boston College

The Eagles ended their season on a sour note after losing 82-57 to Syracuse. Boston College has a 15-16 overall record, but the team lost two-thirds of its games in conference and went 0-2 at neutral sites.

North Carolina beat Boston College, 80-67, in January. The Tar Heels struggled on the boards against a tall BC team, but bench points and 3-point shooting in the second half gave UNC the edge. 

The Eagles have struggled with turnovers and defending in the paint. This could give UNC an advantage with senior center Maria Gakdeng coming off a career-high 25 points against Virginia.

Syracuse

Syracuse has a 6-12 record, but the Orange are on a two-game win streak heading into the tournament. 

North Carolina beat Syracuse in February, 68-58. The Orange are tied for third in the league in rebounding offense, averaging more than 39 a game. But in their regular season meeting, the Tar Heels held them to 26. 

Guard Georgia Woolley leads the team with 16 points per game, nearly five more than Gakdeng, UNC's leading per-game scorer. North Carolina must lock down Woolley to defeat the Orange. 

Quarterfinals: Florida State

UNC would face No. 4 seed Florida State in the semifinals. The Seminoles beat UNC on a buzzer beater in January and have won seven out of 10 games since, including against No. 2 seed Notre Dame.

But in its 71-57 loss to Duke on Sunday, Florida State relied on forward Makayla Timpson — she was the only player in double digits with 25 points. Star guard Ta’Niya Latson, who averages 25 points per game, recorded 9 points and shot 1-for-8 from three. The Tar Heels must contain Latson to advance. 

UNC might struggle with late-game fatigue against Florida State if Ustby and Kelly cannot play, but the Tar Heels have the stronger bench. FSU ranks 140th in the nation in bench points per game, while North Carolina ranks 54th. 

Semifinal and championship rounds

In the final two rounds, UNC could run into top-seeded N.C. State in the semifinals, then Notre Dame or No. 3 seed Duke in the finals, granted there is not an upset. 

UNC proved it can disrupt the Wolfpack offense, but will need all hands on deck to pull out another win.

Previous losses to both the Fighting Irish and Blue Devils show UNC would need to find success from downtown and its bench to take home the ACC Championship title. 

No matter what, there's a long road ahead. 

@BeckettBrant

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