Backcourt Chemistry Propels UNC Onward in Postseason

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — In the huddle to start the fourth quarter — moments after North Carolina allowed Maryland to fully erase a double-digit Tar Heel lead — senior Nyla Harris reprimanded her sophomore teammate Lanie Grant for several missed opportunities in the third period. 

“She’s always going to shoot it straight with us,” Grant said. “She told me I had to make my layups.” 

Grant stepped up to the call, and after going 2-for-8 in the third quarter, the 18-year-old guard delivered seven of her 20 points in the fourth, including a game-clinching layup that all but put the contest away with 49 seconds remaining. It was the finishing touches on a tandem performance by Tar Heel guards Grant and Elina Aarnisalo that combined for 41 points and helped propel No. 4 seed North Carolina past No. 5 seed Maryland, 74-66, on Sunday afternoon in Carmichael Arena and into the Sweet 16. 

Instead of relying on UNC’s usual prowess of 3-point shooting, Grant and Aarnisalo attacked the rim relentlessly, blowing by Terrapin defenders and helping the Tar Heels notch 44 points in the paint, while tying for the fewest attempts from three (11) all season. 

“We’re going to take what the defense gives us, and we’re going to make them wrong,” head coach Courtney Banghart said. “That’s our goal.”

More than just exposing the way Maryland guarded North Carolina all game, Grant and Aarnisalo know how to play off of each other’s success as they traded baskets throughout the game. It started with Aarnisalo setting the blueprint for UNC’s success in the first quarter. 

She tallied eight quick points on 4-of-5 shooting — all downhill layups where she raced past whatever Terrapin defender squared up to guard her. The success off the dribble opened up space for her to get pull-up jumpers and drill a wide-open three as the threat of her getting to the basket loomed.

The three-level scoring helped Aarnisalo finish with an effective 8-for-14 shooting day and record her third 20-point game of the season. An outing she knew would be big from her first basket of the day. 

“Obviously, it gives you a good feeling when you see that ball go through the net,” Aarnisalo said. Before later adding, “We knew they were gonna have an empty paint, so we kind of took those one-on-one opportunities and attacked.” 

Following suit, Grant delivered her own 20-point performance, garnering the same success Aarnisalo had attacking the rim. And with both Tar Heels playing over 36 minutes respectively, the pair of guards were a revolving issue for Maryland’s defense, which couldn’t stop one, let alone both of them, from getting to the basket. 

It’s a defensive puzzle that UNC’s own players have struggled to figure out when they face the two together each day in practice. And choosing to work out as partners daily since Aarnisalo arrived this summer, their chemistry has seamlessly translated from the practice court to NCAA Tournament action. 

“We’re constantly in each other’s ears, picking each other up, pushing each other,” Grant said. “I think it’s just a testament to our relationship and the relationship we have with our teammates.”

Despite being in her sophomore season at UNC, Grant is still the youngest player on the team. Forgoing her senior high school season, she reclassified to help the Tar Heels right away in last year’s NCAA Tournament, and doing so again has North Carolina in its second consecutive Sweet 16 for the first time since 2014-15. 

With Banghart instilling confidence in her young guard since day one — even offering her before she was in high school — the faith the Tar Heel coach has had in Grant from early on has continued to pay off. 

“I believed in her early on, and she just proves me right every single day,” Banghart said.