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Whether or not they’ve been at full strength, the first part of the season has been a miss for UNC women’s basketball.
Head coach Courtney Banghart was quick to tell anyone who listened about Carolina’s incredibly difficult non-conference slate. UNC had guaranteed games against South Carolina and UConn and a potential matchup with Iowa in the Gulf Coast Showcase. Now, as we approach Christmas, the Tar Heels are 0-2 against the Gamecocks and Huskies and didn’t even get a shot at the Hawkeyes, thanks to a loss to Kansas State in the showcase semifinals. That was followed up by a last-minute loss to Florida Gulf Coast in the consolation game.
Banghart’s Tar Heels stand at 6-4, and regardless of strength of schedule ratings, it’s fair to expect better from the fifth-year head coach. But it’d also be foolish to discount the rash of injuries Carolina has faced in the first month: Teonni Key, Paulina Paris, Kayla McPherson, Anya Poole and Reniya Kelly have all missed time due to various maladies. That’s to say nothing of Ciera Toomey and Laila Hull, each of whom are taking medical redshirts. All of those players were intended to be rotation pieces for Banghart, and none of them have been on the floor at the same time.
For Key, it’s the continuation of a frustrating and sad start to her college career. Key arrived in Chapel Hill as a Top 10 recruit, but tore her ACL before her true freshman season. After an arduous rehab process, she came back and was able to play last season, if not as much or as effectively as she could have at full health. Key showed out at “Live Action” earlier in the fall, but then ended up hurt again and has not played this season. Here’s hoping Toomey, herself a Top 10 recruit who chose Carolina over UConn, doesn’t have the same bad luck.
Carolina’s sluggish start to the season looks even more so thanks to those folks just down the road. NC State has rocketed up the polls to No. 3 in the country after starting the season unranked. With South Carolina transfer Saniya Rivers playing at an All-American level and with a win over UConn already under their belt, Wes Moore’s Wolfpack once again look like a national title contender.
Fortunately for UNC, the team has a light rest of the month before ACC play begins. The Tar Heels play just two games between now and New Year’s Eve: a likely win against Western Carolina on December 15 and an intriguing non-conference matchup with Oklahoma in Charlotte on the 19th. Is the game against the Sooners a must-win? Should the Tar Heels lose, their best non-conference victory would be a toss-up between Davidson and Vermont.
So yeah, it’s a must-win.
Featured image via Associated Press/Jessica Hill
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