UNC women’s basketball shows growth and growing pains in OT loss to Louisville

The overtime period felt like a blur.

North Carolina women’s basketball spent 40 minutes Sunday night chipping away at No. 22 Louisville, finally clawing its way in front late in regulation. Then, in five dizzying minutes of overtime, the Tar Heels unraveled. 12th-ranked UNC (9-3, 0-1 ACC) never scored again, watching Louisville (10-3, 2-0 ACC) sprint away with a 76-66 win in Carmichael Arena to open conference play.

After nearly a month away from Chapel Hill, UNC returned home to start league play against a familiar measuring stick. In her six seasons leading UNC, Courtney Banghart’s teams and Jeff Walz’s Cardinals have been separated by an average of fewer than seven points per game.

Sunday followed that script, until overtime.

After trailing for most of regulation, the Tar Heels surged ahead behind freshman Taliyah Henderson’s fourth-quarter shot-making — she made three 3-pointers in the final frame — a timely bucket from Lanie Grant and great defense from Louisville transfer Nyla Harris.

Then came the mistakes, none more gut-wrenching than the missed free throws from Indya Nivar. Louisville earned one final trip to the line, and Imari Berry’s second free throw with less than a second remaining tied the score to send the game to overtime.

The Cardinals scored the first basket in extra time — and then every point after that. North Carolina went 0-for-7 from the floor in overtime, committing three turnovers and watching Louisville close on a 13-0 run across the final minutes of regulation and extra time.

“We just didn’t play well and didn’t make enough shots,” Banghart said. “I don’t think that happens very often. You don’t want it to happen, but when it does, it’s even harder win those games.”

The bigger takeaways, though, live in the larger arc of the season. Sunday marked North Carolina’s third loss in three ranked matchups this season. The Tar Heels are still searching for a signature win. The Louisville loss, and this recent stretch of games, offers a clear snapshot of both their progress and their limitations.

New look offense with some highs, some lows

Banghart has been open about reshaping UNC’s offensive identity. In previous seasons, North Carolina leaned heavily on two traditional post players and structured sets. But this roster is built to play in space — to drive, kick and use versatile forwards rather than simply park bodies on the block.

Against Louisville, that vision flickered in and out of focus. The Tar Heels hit 11 3-pointers and had five players score in double figures for the seventh game this season. Henderson finished with 13 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting night, with all three of her 3-pointers coming in the fourth quarter. That makes Henderson 10-for-10 in the last two games.

Ciera Toomey added 12 points — including two threes — and eight rebounds in a hard-fought performance down low. Harris posted 11 points and nine boards against her former team.

But North Carolina struggled where it has, at times, in other big games: finishing inside and valuing the ball. Louisville outscored UNC 34-22 in the paint and turned Carolina’s 16 turnovers into 12 points.

“A poor shot for us or a turnover led to paint scores,” Banghart said. “They were switching. We were reactionary, and so they were able to post up.”

The Tar Heels missed 13 layups on Sunday and often looked out of sorts when driving lanes clogged up or UNC picked the ball up too deep.

“We got too deep on our penetration, so our windows weren’t great,” Banghart said. “And then we just, quite honestly, our decisions were slow and our shot quality wasn’t great.”

Uncharacteristic night amid good start for Nivar

Nivar is the longest-tenured Tar Heel and remains the engine of North Carolina’s offense and one of its most trusted defenders.

Louisville’s physicality forced the senior guard into uncomfortable spots. The Cardinals collapsed on her drives, slapped down at the ball and used their pressure to force indecision. Nivar finished with 10 points, but also seven turnovers — two of them in overtime.

“I think Indya has had a great year…she’s had great ball control throughout the season,” Banghart said. “I think, for her, it [the turnovers] came more out of probably pushing a little bit too much. And I’ll take kids that push too much.”

That confidence is rooted, rightfully, in a larger body of work. Banghart has consistently pointed to Nivar as the emotional and competitive backbone of this year’s group, calling her a “warrior” after a win over North Carolina A&T and praising her after a victory against Elon for being the “senior version of Indya that we need.”

Nivar has scored in double digits in every outing this year, currently riding a career-long streak of 12 consecutive games in double-figure scoring.

“The only thing that will pick Indya up is to play better and win basketball games,” Banghart said Sunday evening. “And she’ll have to play better to do that, and we have full faith that she will.”

Even on a night when the offense sputtered and she struggled, Nivar showed why that trust exists. Early in the third quarter, Louisville appeared headed for a clean fast-break layup when Nivar sprinted back to contest, forcing a miss. She secured the rebound, pushed the pace in transition and found Toomey in the corner for a 3-pointer.

Those moments have defined her season more than nights like Sunday. Over Thanksgiving break, Nivar etched her name into the program’s record book, posting just the second triple-double in UNC history with 13 points, a career-high 12 rebounds and 10 steals against South Dakota State. The performance earned her ACC Player of the Week honors.

Against Louisville, that version of Nivar surfaced in flashes — a timely 3-pointer to keep UNC within striking distance, a crucial defensive stop — even as the turnovers mounted.

Tar Heels taking their defensive vitamins

Banghart said on her radio show last week that she’s instilled a new element for her team’s practices this year: daily vitamins. Every day, they work on concepts — like ball pressure, ball screen defense, communication, recovery, etc. — to get high reps in a certain focus area.

The result?

“We’re just better defensively,” Banghart said on her Dec. 8 radio show.

Louisville entered the contest on Sunday averaging nearly 83 points per game. UNC forced 16 turnovers, but allowed the Cardinals to shoot 40.3% and score 26 points in the opening frame alone.

“We give up that in three quarters, typically, right?” Banghart said after the loss. “And so we just didn’t, we just didn’t play very well.”

North Carolina ranks eighth in the ACC in points allowed per game and 62nd in the nation. Look at field goal percentage defense and the Tar Heels’ profile drops — the squad ranks 182nd nationally in that category.

“Our defensive identity wasn’t as good, right?” Banghart said of her team’s performance on Sunday. “You add that into playing with hesitation and [poor] shot selection — just not a great equation. So I think if you watch that game back without a scoreboard, it feels like we lose by 20, because it’s just not the team I’m used to seeing. But these guys are working… it’s just another step.”