Three Observations About UNC Women’s Hoops Through Four Games

Head coach Courtney Banghart and the staff have had the opportunity to look at how their team fares against opposing teams four different times already. And the task of going up against the No. 3 team in college basketball, the UCLA Bruins, showed that there is still plenty to work on for this young roster. But when looking at the stats, three things stick out.

What are those three things? Rebounding, free throw shooting and steals... but also turnovers. (Yes, technically four, but bear with me here.)

Rebounds Galore

The Tar Heels are averaging 40 rebounds per game. Ciera Toomey leads with eight per game, followed by Nyla Harris with six and Elina Aarnisalo with five. Indya Nivar adds on with four, and Taissa Queiroz piles on with three. In comparison, last year's roster finished with an average of 38 rebounds per game. And it was Alyssa Ustby who took charge in that department.

Maria Gakdeng and Indya Nivar rounded out the top three amongst the team in rebounding.

Head coach Courtney Banghart at the 2025 ACC Tipoff | Nell Redmond/theACC.com

Free Throw Issue

Free throws are supposed to be easy, right? Well, so far for this team, it has not been so easy to convert, mustering 64 percent from the charity stripe. Toomey has the highest percentage with 90, followed by Harris with 80. Nivar, despite leading the team in points, has converted only 45 percent — not exactly the desired number out of a team's leading scorer.

Courntey Banghar — Head coach Courtney Banghart at the 2025 ACC Tipoff | Nell Redmond/theACC.com

Steals... But Also Turnovers

Steals are great, and for North Carolina, it averages 10 per contest. Nivar has the most on the team with three a game, but on the other hand, turnovers are also crucial to the result and can tell the story of how a game unfolds. And while UNC has a high steal count, it also has a high turnover count — averaging 12.

Ball-security, especially with the amount of guards on the team, will be an important piece of the game moving forward — time is flying and ACC play not too far away.

In the end, these are three (well, four) things that stick out about UNC women's basketball so far. But the good thing is that the season is still young and there are still ways to go before this team becomes anything near national championship caliber, if it can even get there, of course. Time will tell, but there are plenty of hoops to go around as the schedule moves along.

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