RALEIGH, N.C. – For 36 minutes, the Tar Heels were in control. In the last nine, they spiraled out of it.
Once a Paulina Paris and-one finish sent the raucous Reynolds Coliseum crowd into silence and put the North Carolina women’s basketball team up 10 points, the Tar Heels admittedly felt settled with the prospect of closing out N.C. State and picking up arguably its biggest road win of the season.
Over the final four minutes of regulation, though, the Wolfpack’s full-court pressure disrupted UNC’s ballhandlers, leading to easy makes on the other end that trimmed the margin. Couple that defensive tenacity with timely makes from N.C. State guards Jakia Brown-Turner and Aziaha James, and the Tar Heels were thwarted en route to a 77-66 overtime defeat.
“We got a little too comfortable, and they brought out the press and then we just kind of shut down a little bit,” junior wing Kennedy Todd-Williams said. “That comes with maturity and sticking together. It’s a game of runs, and we’re going to have runs, they’re going to have runs. But, you know, we have to play the full 40 minutes and then some more.”
The Tar Heels were outscored 15-4 in the overtime period, which was a far cry from how the team controlled most of the evening.
After struggling to slow down the Wolfpack’s transition game in the first half, the Tar Heels dictated the pace in the third quarter and most of the fourth by playing at a slow tempo that forced N.C. State to run its halfcourt offense. By the time North Carolina built its largest lead with the game coming to a close, the Wolfpack was shooting just under 20 percent from the field coming out of the break.
Playing with a sense of desperation, N.C. State deployed its full-court press, which led to a bevy of UNC turnovers. As the Tar Heels were trapped from all angles, the team's guards had difficulty breaking down the defense with the comfort the team had displayed for most of the night.
"I don't think it was them, it was mostly us," junior guard Deja Kelly said. "I just think we didn't attack hips as well, and we just didn't open up to easy spots for the outlet pass."
The press soon stretched the final fast break points differential to 32-7. When head coach Courtney Banghart glanced at the box score, she nearly second-guessed the information presented before her.
