UNC women stay perfect on the road: 3 takeaways from the Tar Heels’ win over Syracuse

It took No. 9 North Carolina women’s basketball a few minutes to get settled into its new routine, until Maria Gakdeng found her groove.

In their first game without veteran catalyst Alyssa Ustby, UNC needed a few minutes to adjust without its leading rebounder. After leaving the Tar Heels’ game against NC State in the first quarter, Ustby didn’t travel with the Heels to upstate New York.

The Tar Heels were outrebounded in the first quarter, regained ground on that front after the half, and finally settled into enough of a groove to hold off Syracuse, 68-58, behind a season-high-tying 21 points from Gakdeng on Thursday.

The Tar Heels (24-4, 12-3 ACC) missed a number of simple layups and putbacks against Syracuse (10-16, 4-11), despite scoring 19 points off of 17 Orange turnovers, but they did enough to win a sixth consecutive game.

“These guys are just doing things,” Carolina head coach Courtney Baghart said. “These guys are just goal-minded, and they’re playing well.”

Here are three takeaways from the game at JMA Dome:

Maria Gakdeng shines

North Carolina outscored Syracuse 16-3 in a six-minute stretch spanning the second and third quarters. Gakdeng scored 13 straight during that run.

“She’s a real problem in all the best ways,” Banghart said. “She’s just huge to what we’re doing. Her development in this program has been pretty remarkable.”

Thursday’s win marked one of her best performances of the season. Gakdeng finished the game with her second double-double of the year. Her 21 points matched her efforts against Miami and Florida State earlier this season, and her 14 boards matched her season-high against Pitt a month ago.

The Boston College transfer was physical in the paint, holding out until the right time to shoot and limiting fouls. She looked comfortable and played with a swagger that exalted UNC’s bench. Every tough-angle shot that went in, the Tar Heels jumped — the same went for every crucial rebound.

Gakdeng gave the Tar Heels the jolt of energy they needed without Ustby.

Lopsided defense

North Carolina averages less than 13 turnovers per game and forces 17 turnovers against their opponent. It’s good enough for third in the conference for turnover margin, behind Florida State and Duke.

They hit the target against Syracuse, taking back the ball 17 times, but handed it right back to the Orange 20 times.

“I thought we were a bit careless, quite honestly,” Banghart said. “ it was not good ball control, quite honestly. And so pretty uncharacteristic of us.”

The lack of ball control on both teams led to dogpiles, jumpball after jumpball and fast break opportunities. Only 13 fast break points for the two teams, the Tar Heels grabbing eight of them.

Then there were the three-pointers, Carolina’s weak spot that nearly gave the Orange a window heading into the fourth quarter. Sitting in third for three-point defense, the Tar Heels allowed Syracused to make nine triples — good for 56%.

Syracuse, the worst three-point defensive team in the conference, had the Tar Heels number. Carolina was just 36% from the arc, with Lexi Donarski draining three of the team’s nine.

Filling in for Ustby

Making her first career start, redshirt freshman Ciere Toomey stepped into Ustby’s spot in Carolina’s starting lineup. Toomey picked up decent minutes during nonconference play, but once the ACC schedule began, her appearances were fleeting.

Toomey hadn’t played more than 11 minutes in a conference game. Against Syracuse, she played 12 minutes. She had her family cheering her on inside the JMA Wireless Dome. There were a handful of Toomey jerseys in the stands, and she walked back onto the court postgame to say hello to those who watched her first appearance in the starting lineup.

“I thought that she did some really nice things, so that’ll be good,” Banghart said. “She just needs to kind of stack more and more possession so that she feels more and more ready.”

Banghart also switched to a four-guard lineup a number of times, hoping to play smaller and contrast how big Syracuse plays. Without the Tar Heels’ fifth-year leader, Banghart said she felt her team adjusted quicker to life without Ustby than she did.

“I’m so used to my routine of, ‘where’s Alyssa?’” Banghart said. “They seem to be doing fine. They beat NC State and (Syracuse). I’m so used to her.”

Banghart said she hasn’t decided if Ustby will travel with North Carolina to Louisville or Duke next week.

This story was originally published February 20, 2025 at 8:06 PM.