Trip to Sweet 16 at stake when West Virginia and North Carolina meet in 2nd round of March Madness

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — West Virginia’s ball-hawking, full-court press defense stands between third-seeded North Carolina and a trip to the Sweet 16.

As the Tar Heels wrestle with how to exploit it, they are leaning on lessons learned during the thick of the regular season.

“Our kids have had to navigate a variety of pressures,” North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart said Sunday. “They’ve had to guard a variety of skill players. They’ve had to deal with a lot of different attacks.”

“I’m not as familiar with the Big 12, but I’m sure that’s what West Virginia gets to lean on too. They get to lean on their body of work. They get to lean on their body of experience.”

Few teams in women’s basketball hound opponents from end-to-end quite like sixth-seeded West Virginia. Heading into Monday’s second-round matchup with the Tar Heels, the Mountaineers (25-7) rank first in the Big 12 and third nationally in forcing turnovers (23.7 per game).

Eleventh-seeded Columbia experienced it first-hand in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round, turning it over 11 times in the first quarter and 25 times overall in a 78-59 loss.

“I think for us, it’s just fun, honestly,” guard JJ Quinerly said of playing defense. “I think we love flying around. We love getting steals, getting easy points. So, it’s just fun, and we love it.”

The Tar Heels (28-7) have been in a few rock fights this season, specifically in ACC play. A 53-46 overtime win over Duke in which both teams shot below 33% comes to mind.

Banghart sees some similarities in style between West Virginia and Louisville, whom North Carolina beat 79-75 last month. Notably, the Tar Heels shot a season-high 68% during the second half of that win. There are also bits and pieces that compare to Duke and Syracuse.

“We played them a couple weeks ago, and it feels like they’ve got Jayda Curry and Taj Roberts, and they turn around and pick you right off the ball,” Banghart said. “It’s probably similar to Louisville, maybe with some concepts of Syracuse. When they get you into a full-man, that’s a little bit more like Duke. So, they’re all a little different.”

That said, nobody’s truly the same.

“You can’t really compare any team to West Virginia right now,” guard Reniya Kelly conceded.

After beating 14th-seeded Oregon State, 70-49, the Tar Heels are seeking their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2022. The wait has been much longer for the Mountaineers, whose last and only trip came prior to tournament expansion in 1992.

What’s at stake is no secret.

“If we get there, I don’t want to stop there either,” coach Mark Kellogg said. “I don’t want it to be the all-or-nothing for us. But there are steps to it. And we need to pass the first step. We need to pass that test, and we know it’s going to be awfully difficult to win it here against the level of competition that we have.”

Standing tall

West Virginia boasts one of the smaller rosters in the country. Of their projected starters, only one stands taller than 5-foot-10. On paper, with 6-3 Maria Gakdeng and 6-1 Alyssa Ustby, the school’s all-time leading rebounder, the Tar Heels seem to have a big advantage. They outscored Oregon State 40-16 in the paint.

Nevertheless, Kellogg believes there’s ways to combat it.

“Every night in the Big 12 we were … smaller,” Kellogg said. “People are bigger than us. But I think Columbia said that about us, too.”