Consider the Orange crushed.

The No. 24 UNC women’s basketball team showed little rust in its first game back from the holiday break, once more flexing its suffocating defense in a 79-43 win over Syracuse Thursday.

The 12-0 start is Carolina’s best, and its longest winning streak, since the 2010-11 season, when the Tar Heels rattled off 14 consecutive wins to begin the year. This is the seventh time in program history Carolina has started 12-0 or better. UNC is also already close to surpassing its season win totals during its first two years under head coach Courtney Banghart. The Tar Heels finished 13-11 in the 2020-21 season and 16-14 in 2019-20.

Balanced scoring was the theme for Carolina’s offense, as five Tar Heels reached double figures. That quintet included sophomore guard Deja Kelly, who tied for the team lead with 12 points. She has now scored 10 or more points in every game this season, and is averaging a team-best 16.8 points per game.

Sophomore forward Alyssa Ustby also scored 12 points, and flirted with a triple-double by stuffing the stat sheet with 14 rebounds, a career-high six assists and a steal. It was her sixth double-double of the season, which leads all ACC players.

The 79 points scored masked what was a poor shooting day for the Tar Heels, who shot just 32-81 (39.5 percent) from the field, well below their season average of 46.3 percent. Forward Anya Poole was the only UNC starter to shoot 50 percent or better. She finished with 11 points, and is currently UNC’s leader in field goal percentage this season with an excellent 59.3 clip.

But shooting woes don’t matter much when the defense is as in sync as the Tar Heels were. Syracuse, who were missing four players due to COVID protocols, made only 12 shots all night and finished at 21.1 percent from the floor, by far a season-low for the Orange. Carolina forced 23 turnovers, which turned into 26 points on the other end of the court. Eight different Tar Heels recorded a steal and the team finished with 12 total, marking the fourth straight game in which Carolina has recorded 10 or more steals.

The 43 points allowed by the defense is its third-best mark this season, and lowers UNC’s scoring defense average to 49.8 points per game, the ninth-best rate in the country. It is the ninth time in 12 games the Tar Heels have allowed fewer than 50 points, and the first time they have done so in ACC play since January of 2020. The 36-point margin of victory is also their largest in conference play since February of 2015.

It was certainly a far cry from Carolina’s ACC opener, when the Tar Heels had to overcome a 15-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat Boston College. Now, Banghart and company will attempt to reach the program’s first 3-0 start in ACC play since the 2012-13 season, when Clemson visits Carmichael Arena Sunday evening at 6 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jerome M. Ibrahim

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