\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GiPKZk1b0AA5F5V.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nImage via UNC Athletic Communications<\/p>\n
On the team\u2019s game with Duke being broadcast on ABC:\u00a0<\/strong>That rivalry means so much to us. For it to be on national television, it doesn\u2019t make it even bigger. It\u2019s already really big for us to play in that game. Every time we play them, it\u2019s such a great competition. Sometimes it\u2019s not fun, but you know, the competition is what we love. He with always love to come out on top. So that\u2019s what we hope to do.<\/p>\n On hosting NCAA Tournament games at Carmichael Arena: <\/strong>That\u2019s the expectation: for us to host, to have that support behind us and to have those games. It\u2019s just bringing the legacy back. It\u2019s been a while since we had hosted games at Carmichael and now that\u2019s the expectation for us and to have their support. We always play better at home because [the fans] feed us with energy whenever we get low.<\/p>\n Reniya Kelly Image via UNC Athletic Communications\/Anthony Sorbellini<\/p>\n On other teams looking forward to their matchups with the Tar Heels:\u00a0<\/strong>That\u2019s good. We want everyone as well, so we\u2019re not running from any competition. We\u2019re trying to beat every team that comes in our way to get to the national championship, so that\u2019s always the goal every year.<\/p>\n On her injuries at the end of last season: <\/strong>I was hurt, I\u2019ll tell you that. My knee wasn\u2019t in the best condition, but I would risk anything. I would do it again if I had to, you know what I mean? The goal was to win and I would do anything to win. And so I played and we got to the Sweet 16 and that was that. So I wasn\u2019t really worried about my knee at the end.<\/p>\n My knee was very tired. I think I just did too much, honestly. But we made it to the Sweet 16. It wasn\u2019t enouge strength on my knee, honestly. And I did rehab, I did the things I needed to do, but it just wasn\u2019t enough to keep playing and last me a long time through the Final Four or to the national championship.<\/p>\n On which new players have impressed her:\u00a0<\/strong>Taliyah Henderson. She\u2019s a sleeper. She goes extremely hard every possession, every practice. Whatever it is, she\u2019s giving 110 percent every time. I think because she\u2019s a hard worker. I love players who just work hard every time, and she\u2019s a sleeper. The first impression was great, and so I\u2019m really excited to play with her more on the court.<\/p>\n Courtney Banghart North Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart, left, reacts after a score during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against SMU, Thursday,Jan. 16, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n On how different her team will look this coming season:\u00a0<\/strong>You don\u2019t lose two of the best post players the league has seen in a long time [Alyssa Ustby and Maria Gakdeng] and try to replace them immediately in the same way. So we have some posts that need to step into that opportunity. They\u2019ll play the game a little differently. They can extend the floor a little more. They can allow us to play with a little more spacing. Then we bring back a lot of experienced guards, talented guard play, as well as what we brought in both through the portal and freshmen in recruiting. We have a good guard group that has a lot of game pressure, whereas our inside game we\u2019ve got to use our nonconference, which you see scheduled, to put them to the test early so we can get as much game pressure on our youth as we can as we prepare for the gauntlet of the ACC.<\/p>\n On how she built her team\u2019s non-conference schedule: <\/a><\/strong>It was pretty strategic. The ACC is so hard every year, and we knew that this was going to be a year where we were losing 60 percent or more of our productivity. Instead of finding out late, I want to find out early kind of what the traditional, sort of over the last year, were the best. UCLA brought back a lot of their players. South Carolina brought back a lot of their players. Texas brought back a lot of their players. We are going to go against people that are really experienced and had a great year last year. I think that will bode well as we continue to persistently prepare for what\u2019s going to be the ACC gauntlet.<\/p>\n On her team\u2019s depth:\u00a0<\/strong>The more reliable or available guys are, the deeper you are. Otherwise, you just have a lot of talent. The only way we\u2019re going to do that, like we said, is with our non-conference schedule. Multiple mid-majors have won a tournament game in the NCAA Tournament. They\u2019re not just tournament teams. They\u2019re advancing in the tournament teams.<\/p>\n On any concerns she has for her team:\u00a0<\/strong>I worry more about the rebounding quite honestly, because there\u2019s not a better rebounder in program history than Alyssa Ustby. And then you throw in Maria Gakdeng too. The five-year experience of her and Grace Townsend, the four-year starting experience of Maria and Lexi [Donarski], that\u2019s game pressure, which is why we\u2019re playing three Final Four teams from last year in the first month of the season. We have to get as much game pressure and not worry about how many wins Courtney Banghart has. It doesn\u2019t matter. What matters is how much could I quickly get game pressure so that available players become reliable players so that we can be good in the ACC season. I worry less about scoring with this team than I did last year\u2019s team. But we\u2019re gonna have to make sure that we\u2019re as tough defensively and that we find a way to rebound.<\/p>\n Chapelboro.com<\/a>\u00a0does not charge subscription fees, and you can\u00a0directly support our efforts in local journalism\u00a0here<\/a>. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by\u00a0signing up for our newsletter.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \u2039<\/p>\n The ACC announced the full 2025-26 conference schedule for all women\u2019s basketball programs Tuesday afternoon. As was the case during the 2024-25 season, UNC will play 18 conference games, facing 16 teams once and rival Duke twice. Been waiting on this one\u2026 The ACC schedule is \ud835\ude43\ud835\ude40\ud835\ude4d\ud835\ude40! pic.twitter.com\/EKw7G5eVCY \u2014 Carolina Women’s Basketball (@uncwbb) September 2, [\u2026]<\/p>\n <\/a> Guard Kayla McPherson of the UNC women\u2019s basketball program officially announced her retirement from basketball Tuesday, citing multiple knee injuries and long recovery periods. The redshirt senior will remain with the team as a student assistant. 11 Out \ud83e\ude75 pic.twitter.com\/hfHxsvKE52 \u2014 Carolina Women’s Basketball (@uncwbb) August 26, 2025 A McDonald\u2019s All-American at Madison County High [\u2026]<\/p>\n <\/a> Courtney Banghart and the Tar Heels may have just won their biggest recruiting battle ever. Point guard Kate Harpring, a five-star prospect from Atlanta ranked among the top five players in the 2026 recruiting class on every major board, committed to Banghart and UNC Saturday. Go Tar Heels!! \ud83e\ude75\ud83e\ude75#committed pic.twitter.com\/RbzpiYqJOZ \u2014 Kate Harpring (@Kate_Harpring26) August [\u2026]<\/p>\n <\/a> The UNC women\u2019s basketball team announced its full slate of non-conference games for the 2025-26 regular season Tuesday morning. The wait is over\u2026 Our Non-Conference schedule is \ud835\ude4e\ud835\ude40\ud835\ude4f \ud83d\udcc5 pic.twitter.com\/8fp72vNR9Q \u2014 Carolina Women’s Basketball (@uncwbb) August 5, 2025 UNC begins with a preseason exhibition game against 2025 national runners-up South Carolina in Atlanta on October [\u2026]<\/p>\n <\/a> Head coach Courtney Banghart and the Tar Heels are heading out west early in the 2025-26 season. UNC will compete in the inaugural Women\u2019s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Challenge in Las Vegas this coming November, facing UCLA and Fairfield.\u00a0The games will be played at Michelob ULTRA Arena, home of the WNBA\u2019s Las Vegas Aces, with [\u2026]<\/p>\n <\/a> Less than four months before her team opens up its 2025-26 season, UNC women\u2019s basketball head coach Courtney Banghart is already forecasting the group as one of the deepest and most competitive rosters she\u2019s ever assembled. \u201cI would be very surprised if our rotation was anywhere near as tight as it has been,\u201d Banghart told [\u2026]<\/p>\n <\/a> The UNC women\u2019s basketball team will face South Carolina in a preseason exhibition game in Atlanta on Thursday, October 30. The game will be played in State Farm Arena, home of the NBA\u2019s Atlanta Hawks. See you in the ATL \ud83d\udc4b pic.twitter.com\/DmpCp88lIG \u2014 Carolina Women’s Basketball (@uncwbb) July 29, 2025 South Carolina has won the [\u2026]<\/p>\n <\/a> UNC will join three other programs to play in the 2025 Cancun Challenge in Mexico this November. The Tar Heels will be joined by Columbia, Kansas State and South Dakota State south of the border as part of the challenge\u2019s Mayan Tournament. Break out the passports \u2013 The Heels are heading to Cancun! pic.twitter.com\/WibQ1gWw26 \u2014 [\u2026]<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\nUNC Women’s Basketball Announces 2025-26 ACC Schedule<\/p>\nUNC Women’s Basketball’s Kayla McPherson Announces Retirement Following Knee Injuries<\/p>\n5-Star Prospect Kate Harpring Commits to UNC Women’s Basketball<\/p>\nUNC Women’s Basketball Announces Full 2025-26 Non-Conference Schedule<\/p>\nUNC Women’s Basketball to Compete in WBCA Challenge in Las Vegas<\/p>\nCourtney Banghart Praises UNC’s Newcomers, Deeper Roster: ‘Our Offense Will Be Quite Different’<\/p>\nUNC Women’s Basketball to Face South Carolina in Preseason Exhibition<\/p>\nUNC Women’s Basketball to Play in 2025 Cancun Challenge<\/p>\n