UNC GREENSBORO SPARTANS 2–3 (0-0 Southern)
Massey Rating 222, (UNC 28); NET (Nolan)143 (UNC 20); Torvik 238 (UNC13)
Last Season 25 – 7 (13-1 Southern, 1st; 3-0 in SoCon T, (Champion), 0-1 NCAA, lost to #1 USC 25-71 (JuJu Watkins 22 points)
Our game Sunday evening is with the UNC Greensboro Spartans (2-3), members of the Southern Conference in which they are predicted to finish second. Carolina is 14-0 with UNCG all-time, the last game coming in December 2024, an 80-56 win. Alyssa Ustby led the Heels with 15 points and 8 rebounds; Indya Nivar had 11 points on 2 of 3 3-pointers.
For this game, Carolina is favored by 38 points (Massey), 33 points (Torvik) and 26 points (Nolan).
UNC Greensboro was founded in 1891 as a women’s college, and was for many years known as the Woman’s College of the U. of North Carolina, or simply W. C. The name was officially changed to UNC Greensboro in 1963, when men were admitted for the first time, although it was commonly called W. C. for many years thereafter. A legend similar to the Silent Sam one in Chapel Hill was that if you owned a car with a “Carolina” decal on the rear window, and you drove to Greensboro, parked, left the door open and took a short walk, then by the time you returned your car would be full of women from WC. As I didn’t own a car I could never put this to the test.
UNCG had massive losses from last year’s 25-win team, including three starters, the 6th player, and five others from the reserves. Only five players returned, including 2 starters. There are 8 newcomers, four true freshmen and four transfers.
The Spartans started play with a long road trip to San Francisco, playing Stanford at Maples (42-87 loss) and U. of San Francisco at the Sobrato Center (40-64 loss). USF is in the West Coast Conference. Still travelling, UNCG visited Auburn and though giving the Tigers a spirited battle lost 57-64. The most recent two games were nail-biters but resulted in two wins: 57-53 at Presbyterian and 54-52 with Gardner-Webb. Both games were won in the last minute.
As noted, the Spartans do return two starters; they are Jaila Lee, a 5-10 senior G and Tasia Johnson, a 5-7 senior G. Makia Asidanya, a 5-7 junior PG, also is back. In preseason polling, Lee and Asidanya were All-SoCon selections. All three are starting. Asidanya is the leading scorer with 14.8 ppg and leads in steals; Lee (6.3 ppg) leads in assists. Asidanya is also one to watch from the perimeter, 14 of 36 for 38.9%.
The remaining two returnees are Kristina Rakotobe, a 6-1 sophomore F, and Joelle Davis, a 5-10 junior G. Both were deep bench last season and continue in those roles this year.
The final two starters are newcomers Jeni Levine, a 5-7 GS G who transferred from USC Upstate, and Rylan Moffitt, a 6-0 senior F who transferred from Appalachian State. Levine is the other double-digit scorer (12.4) and Moffitt (7.2/6.4) the leading rebounder. Mia Simpson, a 5-7 senior G (4.5/4.0) missed the first three games but was prominent off the bench in the last two. She was a starter at Indiana State before UNCG.
There are other new faces. Four freshmen joined the Spartans and all have played but Leyla Minor, a 6-0 G (4.0/2.0), has been getting double digit minutes off the bench. From Virginia Beach, she will shoot the three if left alone and can be effective: 44.4% (4 of 9). The others are Ella Pierre-Louis, a 5-11 G, Salimata Traore, a 6-1 F, and Dayana Stokes, a 6-0 F. None have made significant contributions so far but Traore who’s French-Canadian joins Rakotobe (Madagascar) in increasing the international representation. Pierre-Louis is not French; she’s from Providence RI but did attend the Good Better Best Academy over in Durham.
UNCG has taken the opportunity to play all 13 members of the roster. Against the tougher opponents like Stanford, only 10 played. Against UNC it will probably be a primary eight player rotation – the five starters plus Minor, Simpson and Harris. Depending on situation and score, Rakotobe may see action. For Carolina, hopefully everyone will play including Blanca Thomas.
UNCG is not a “bad” team, with a NET of 143; that would put them in the middle of the pack as mid-majors go. Carolina at 4-1 and rankings of #14 AP and #12 Coaches Poll is certainly favored; however, predictions of a 38-point win would probably discourage wagering. Nolan’s 26-point spread seems more reasonable.
For the record, Carolina’s SOS is #127, according to the NCAA. For comparison, UNCG is #122. An examination of NCAA stats as of this point does not show UNC among the nation’s leaders in any category. Coach Banghart says that UNC is a “work in progress”. We can hope that progress will continue because Carolina is heading into some difficult terrain. In less than a week, the Heels will be in Cancun for a three game showcase: Thursday 27th (Thanksgiving) with 5-0 South Dakota State, Friday with 4-2 Kansas State, and Saturday with 2-2 Columbia. None of those teams are ranked although SD State does get votes (7, 30th).
Five days after returning from Mexico, UNC has to play the SEC/ACC Challenge against #4 Texas in Austin. FWIW, Massey says UNC will win two games in Cancun (SD State by 8 and Columbia by 11) but lose to K-State by 3. Texas however is seen as a lost cause: a 14-point loss and just an 11% chance of winning. It might be remembered that last year Massey, Nolan and Torvik all agreed that Indiana would beat the Heels at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Carolina won by 30, 69-39.
Trina Patterson is in her tenth year in Greensboro with an overall record of 148 – 132 and is 68-58 in SoCon. Patterson also had stints as an assistant at ODU and Stanford. Patterson’s playing days were spent at Virginia under Debbie Ryan. She is a three-time SoCon COY.
The coaching staff has a definite UNC look, with eight-year veteran Cetera DeGraffenreid (UNC ‘12), Associate Head Coach since 2022, and six-year Assistant Coach Alex Miller (UNC’09) both on board. Added to these two is Fred Applin, who began his coaching career at Carolina in 1988. Applin was for several years HC at Charleston Southern and in numerous other stops along the way was known as a top recruiter.
Game time is 6 PM and there will be TV from ACC Network and radio from WCHL with Matt Krause doing the play-by. As an aside, the ACCN coverage features the “A” Team of Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli. Always interesting to hear their ”take” on a Carolina game.
Massey Rating 222, (UNC 28); NET (Nolan)143 (UNC 20); Torvik 238 (UNC13)
Last Season 25 – 7 (13-1 Southern, 1st; 3-0 in SoCon T, (Champion), 0-1 NCAA, lost to #1 USC 25-71 (JuJu Watkins 22 points)
Our game Sunday evening is with the UNC Greensboro Spartans (2-3), members of the Southern Conference in which they are predicted to finish second. Carolina is 14-0 with UNCG all-time, the last game coming in December 2024, an 80-56 win. Alyssa Ustby led the Heels with 15 points and 8 rebounds; Indya Nivar had 11 points on 2 of 3 3-pointers.
For this game, Carolina is favored by 38 points (Massey), 33 points (Torvik) and 26 points (Nolan).
UNC Greensboro was founded in 1891 as a women’s college, and was for many years known as the Woman’s College of the U. of North Carolina, or simply W. C. The name was officially changed to UNC Greensboro in 1963, when men were admitted for the first time, although it was commonly called W. C. for many years thereafter. A legend similar to the Silent Sam one in Chapel Hill was that if you owned a car with a “Carolina” decal on the rear window, and you drove to Greensboro, parked, left the door open and took a short walk, then by the time you returned your car would be full of women from WC. As I didn’t own a car I could never put this to the test.
UNCG had massive losses from last year’s 25-win team, including three starters, the 6th player, and five others from the reserves. Only five players returned, including 2 starters. There are 8 newcomers, four true freshmen and four transfers.
The Spartans started play with a long road trip to San Francisco, playing Stanford at Maples (42-87 loss) and U. of San Francisco at the Sobrato Center (40-64 loss). USF is in the West Coast Conference. Still travelling, UNCG visited Auburn and though giving the Tigers a spirited battle lost 57-64. The most recent two games were nail-biters but resulted in two wins: 57-53 at Presbyterian and 54-52 with Gardner-Webb. Both games were won in the last minute.
As noted, the Spartans do return two starters; they are Jaila Lee, a 5-10 senior G and Tasia Johnson, a 5-7 senior G. Makia Asidanya, a 5-7 junior PG, also is back. In preseason polling, Lee and Asidanya were All-SoCon selections. All three are starting. Asidanya is the leading scorer with 14.8 ppg and leads in steals; Lee (6.3 ppg) leads in assists. Asidanya is also one to watch from the perimeter, 14 of 36 for 38.9%.
The remaining two returnees are Kristina Rakotobe, a 6-1 sophomore F, and Joelle Davis, a 5-10 junior G. Both were deep bench last season and continue in those roles this year.
The final two starters are newcomers Jeni Levine, a 5-7 GS G who transferred from USC Upstate, and Rylan Moffitt, a 6-0 senior F who transferred from Appalachian State. Levine is the other double-digit scorer (12.4) and Moffitt (7.2/6.4) the leading rebounder. Mia Simpson, a 5-7 senior G (4.5/4.0) missed the first three games but was prominent off the bench in the last two. She was a starter at Indiana State before UNCG.
There are other new faces. Four freshmen joined the Spartans and all have played but Leyla Minor, a 6-0 G (4.0/2.0), has been getting double digit minutes off the bench. From Virginia Beach, she will shoot the three if left alone and can be effective: 44.4% (4 of 9). The others are Ella Pierre-Louis, a 5-11 G, Salimata Traore, a 6-1 F, and Dayana Stokes, a 6-0 F. None have made significant contributions so far but Traore who’s French-Canadian joins Rakotobe (Madagascar) in increasing the international representation. Pierre-Louis is not French; she’s from Providence RI but did attend the Good Better Best Academy over in Durham.
UNCG has taken the opportunity to play all 13 members of the roster. Against the tougher opponents like Stanford, only 10 played. Against UNC it will probably be a primary eight player rotation – the five starters plus Minor, Simpson and Harris. Depending on situation and score, Rakotobe may see action. For Carolina, hopefully everyone will play including Blanca Thomas.
UNCG is not a “bad” team, with a NET of 143; that would put them in the middle of the pack as mid-majors go. Carolina at 4-1 and rankings of #14 AP and #12 Coaches Poll is certainly favored; however, predictions of a 38-point win would probably discourage wagering. Nolan’s 26-point spread seems more reasonable.
For the record, Carolina’s SOS is #127, according to the NCAA. For comparison, UNCG is #122. An examination of NCAA stats as of this point does not show UNC among the nation’s leaders in any category. Coach Banghart says that UNC is a “work in progress”. We can hope that progress will continue because Carolina is heading into some difficult terrain. In less than a week, the Heels will be in Cancun for a three game showcase: Thursday 27th (Thanksgiving) with 5-0 South Dakota State, Friday with 4-2 Kansas State, and Saturday with 2-2 Columbia. None of those teams are ranked although SD State does get votes (7, 30th).
Five days after returning from Mexico, UNC has to play the SEC/ACC Challenge against #4 Texas in Austin. FWIW, Massey says UNC will win two games in Cancun (SD State by 8 and Columbia by 11) but lose to K-State by 3. Texas however is seen as a lost cause: a 14-point loss and just an 11% chance of winning. It might be remembered that last year Massey, Nolan and Torvik all agreed that Indiana would beat the Heels at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Carolina won by 30, 69-39.
Trina Patterson is in her tenth year in Greensboro with an overall record of 148 – 132 and is 68-58 in SoCon. Patterson also had stints as an assistant at ODU and Stanford. Patterson’s playing days were spent at Virginia under Debbie Ryan. She is a three-time SoCon COY.
The coaching staff has a definite UNC look, with eight-year veteran Cetera DeGraffenreid (UNC ‘12), Associate Head Coach since 2022, and six-year Assistant Coach Alex Miller (UNC’09) both on board. Added to these two is Fred Applin, who began his coaching career at Carolina in 1988. Applin was for several years HC at Charleston Southern and in numerous other stops along the way was known as a top recruiter.
Game time is 6 PM and there will be TV from ACC Network and radio from WCHL with Matt Krause doing the play-by. As an aside, the ACCN coverage features the “A” Team of Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli. Always interesting to hear their ”take” on a Carolina game.
