WBB Notebook: ACC Opener Slips Away, Taliyah Henderson Rises & More

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The Tar Heels had Carmichael Arena rocking in the late stages of Sunday’s game, as a go-ahead 3-pointer from Taliyah Henderson put them ahead by one point with just over a minute to go.

Fans waved their white towels that read “Raise Up” as North Carolina had just moved in front of Louisville in the team’s ACC opener. Moments later, Lanie Grant leaned in for a layup to go ahead by three, and a fired-up Grant fed off the energy from the rest of her teammates as the team went into the huddle for a timeout.

But that energy would quickly dissipate from UNC and its crowd and swing over to the Cardinals.

Louisville scored on its next offensive possession to cut it to one, and Grant couldn’t haul in Indya Nivar’s inbound pass at half court, giving Louisville the steal. The Tar Heels stopped Louisville on defense the next play down, forcing the Cardinals to foul Nivar in hopes of extending the game. Nivar couldn’t convert on either free throw, allowing Imari Berry to grab the rebound, push the ball down the court and draw a foul on a layup. Berry made one of her two free throws to force overtime, and the Cardinals seized control from there. Louisville out-scored UNC 10-0 during the extra five minutes, as the Tar Heels shot 0-7 from the field.

“We played tired most of the day,” Courtney Banghart said after the game. “If you look statistically at some of our more experienced players that have had better years, they just didn’t play well enough and make enough shots. I don’t think that happens very often, and you don’t want it to happen, but when it does, it’s even harder to win those games. When they needed to make shots, they did, and when we needed to make shots, we didn’t. And that’s certainly a testament to Louisville coming in here and earning a victory against a good team.”

North Carolina’s 76-66 loss to Louisville on Sunday has the team at 9-3 entering its final two non-conference games. UNC will face UNCW and Charleston Southern at home before resuming conference play against Boston College on Dec. 29. Sunday’s loss also revealed how wide open the ACC could be this season.

The Tar Heels entered Sunday’s game as the highest-ranked ACC team in the AP Top 25 poll at No. 12. They were one of three teams in the conference that had an AP ranking at all, with Notre Dame (No. 19) and Louisville (No. 22) being the others. Last season, the ACC finished with five teams ranked in the top-25, and eight teams made the NCAA Tournament.

Taking an ACC opening detour on Sunday served as a solid measuring stick for the Tar Heels as it wraps up its non-conference schedule. UNC is now 0-3 against ranked opponents this season (UCLA, Texas, Louisville), but it has taken care of business in its other outings.

“I think this is a great game to have as an ACC opener,” Nyla Harris, a former Louisville Cardinal, said on Sunday. “I feel like we could have played anybody, but I think playing Louisville, who is obviously top two in our league, is really important for us to see where we’re at. It’s the first game, of course. We have a long road to go, and as Coach says time and time again, like it’s a great game every single night. It’s going to come down to who’s tougher, who can execute better. And I think tonight, we were tested with that, and we can see where we can be better.”

North Carolina was tied for fourth in the conference last season and secured a top-16 seed in the NCAA Tournament, allowing it to host the first two rounds in Chapel Hill. The team went 13-5 in the conference, tied for the best ACC finish the Tar Heels have had under Banghart.

Despite getting to overtime, UNC was outplayed for most of Sunday’s game. The Tar Heels turned the ball over 16 times and shot just 37.5% from the field. They didn’t take their first lead until the 8:17 mark of the third quarter, when Elina Aarnisalo banked in a short jumper to go ahead by two. Even that lead was brief, as Henderson’s late-game 3-pointer was the second time that North Carolina held an advantage.

UNC didn’t have enough for the Cardinals in overtime, unable to make any splash plays on either end to cut into the lead one last time.

“I think we just let them run through their plays,” Harris said. “We let them set up. We let (Tajianna Roberts) look at Coach (Jeff) Walz and see what she wanted to do. We let them talk and point. Kind of like we were really relaxed. And I think in that time, we knew we were down, we needed to disrupt the ball handler and make her do something instead of trying to set everybody up.”

UNC’s three lowest-scoring games have come in its losses so far, but it ranks third among ACC squads with 78.5 points per game. 

Every player was healthy and available on Sunday, and the Tar Heels should enter 2026 with a complete rotation. When conference play resumes against Boston College, the team will begin its journey within the ACC, a league UNC last won in 2008. 

“I know you’re not going to play really well for the (18) ACC games,” Banghart said. “And it feels right now like, ‘Oh God, we played bad.’ It’s one of the (18) games. You have to win as many of them as you can. Stack wins, be playing your best basketball in the tournament. I didn’t think we played well enough to take them to overtime, quite honestly. This team is too good for us to play so poorly on both ends.”

Clutch Shooting From Curious Taliyah Henderson

Henderson, a freshman guard from Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe Catholic, has continued to get better by staying curious. Banghart recalled an anecdote from last week of Henderson wanting to rewatch a practice she struggled in during the week, looking for answers on how to get better.

“That’s just who she is,” Banghart said. “She’s really committed to getting better, and as a competitor, she’s got so much courage.”

The 6-foot-1 Henderson provided a lift off the bench on Sunday for North Carolina. She matched her season-high with 13 points while making all five of her shots, including three 3-pointers. Henderson made all three of her 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. The shots Henderson knocked down each helped North Carolina chip away at the Louisville lead, as she made two 3-pointers to cut the lead to two before her go-ahead 3-pointer late in regulation.

In her last two games, Henderson is averaging 12 points and four rebounds. The lefty shot 5-5 from the field in both of those two games. Henderson also played a season-high 19 minutes against Louisville.

“She just works really hard,” Ciera Toomey said. “She asks questions. She really just wants to understand the system. Coming in as a freshman, there’s so many things you have to worry about, like understanding the program, like off the court stuff, just everything. And Taliyah’s done a really good job of working out. Like Coach’s example, that makes full sense to me. She just wants to get better day in and day out, and I’m happy that it showed today.”

UNC’s Statistical Leaders

PPG: Indya Nivar — 12.4
RPG: Ciera Toomey — 7.1
APG: Indya Nivar — 3.6
SPG: Indya Nivar — 3.7
BPG: Ciera Toomey — 1.4

FG%: Taliyah Henderson — 67.4%
3PT%: Nyla Brooks — 41.4%
FT%: Lanie Grant — 81.3%

Recent Results

Louisville: L 66-76

Taliyah Henderson: 13 points (5-5 FG, 3-3 3PT), 3 rebounds
Ciera Toomey: 12 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block
Nyla Harris: 11 points (4-5 FG), 9 rebounds

FG: 37.5% (24-64)
3PT: 37.9% (11-29)
FT: 58.3% (7-12)

Up Next

Wednesday: Home vs. UNCW, 8 p.m.

Sunday: Home vs. Charleston Southern, 12 p.m.