BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — UNC women’s basketball coach Courtney Banghart said there’s two ways to look at the outcome of Friday’s NCAA Sweet 16 loss to longtime, in-state rival Duke: Being afraid of failure or being afraid of regret.
Banghart doesn’t ever want to regret anything.
“I think one of the things I’m thinking, as I told these guys in the locker room, it wasn’t enough,” Banghart said. “As a coach, you have to navigate that moment, with also the legacy. … I don’t think anyone in this room has anybody in their life that speaks about them as highly as this team speaks about its seniors. Over time that will become more important.
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“It’s not today, but every time we meet with these players and show them film and talk to them about stuff, it’s always ‘I want to do it for our seniors.’ There’s something special when you’ve impacted people’s lives to the point that they want to do something special for you.”
Graduate guards Alyssa Ustby and Lexi Donarski came into the postgame press conference sniffling and red-cheeked, knowing it was their last game wearing the Carolina blue.
Donarski said they’re going to need time to process the fact that it’s over. Not just the season, but their collegiate careers. Donarski was only with UNC since 2023, but the impact the program had on her will have a long-lasting ripple effect.
“We were talking a few minutes ago and we were like, it was never a thought that our season was going to be over today,” Donarski said. “Just the shock of that and knowing we’re not going to practice tomorrow. It’s all definitely going to take some time.”
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Ustby spent all five years in Chapel Hill and made it to the NCAA Tournament every year, but only two Sweet 16s.
“Obviously, so much work goes into building a basketball team,” Ustby said. “As long as the season is, I’m proud of how far we were able to come, but this stings.”
UNC ends its season 29-8.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC women’s basketball reflects on loss with no regrets of failure
