Courtney Banghart explains what North Carolina must do to hold off Miami in ACC Tournament

North Carolina and Miami are playing in the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament in what could prove to be a very important game for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. At the half, North Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart was happy to have a seven-point lead but knows there is room to build on that.

Going into the half, Banghart shared with the ACC Network what North Carolina needs to do to hold off Miami in the second half. That starts with building on their offensive success.

“I felt we got sped up a little bit, had some good shots that we didn’t knock down,” Courtney Banghart said. “But it’s a physical game. So, we’re going to have to be able to play through that.”

The half ended with Miami knocking down a buzzer beater from half court. It was the kind of play that changes games in March and makes them so dangerous. It’s also the type of play that Courtney Banghart knows the Hurricanes are capable of turning a game with. So, the Tar Heels need to take it one possession at a time.

“This is a team that gets better as they go and, obviously, they’re built for March. They make big plays like you just saw to end the half. So, we’ve just got to make it possession by possession and find a way.”

This is the second time this season that North Carolina and Miami have played one another this season. In their previous game, the Tar Heels won a close game at home. However, that game was back in January and plenty has changed since then.

These two teams are also the eighth and ninth seeds in the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, respectively. North Carolina came into the tournament 11-7 in ACC play, but had lost three of its final four games this season. Miami, for its part, was 8-10 in conference play, but ended the season winning two of its last three games.

The winner of this game is going to advance to the next round of the ACC Tournament. There, they’ll take on Virginia Tech, who is the top overall seed in the tournament after winning the conference during the regular season.

This is Courtney Banghart’s fifth season as the head coach at North Carolina. In her previous four seasons, the postseason was canceled due to the pandemic once and she made the NCAA Tournament three times. The deepest her Tar Heels have made it is the Sweet Sixteen.