Courtney Banghart Reveals What She Thinks About South Carolina Ahead of Sunday’s Showdown With the Gamecocks

North Carolina women’s basketball head coach Courtney Banghart knows exactly what awaits her team when the Tar Heels take on South Carolina on Sunday. And judging by her recent comments, she views the matchup as much more than another early-season game.

For Banghart, facing the Gamecocks is an opportunity to measure her team’s progress against one of the country’s premier programs. It is also the kind of challenge she believes North Carolina must embrace if it wants to take the next step toward competing for a national championship.

Speaking during the October 5 ACC Tipoff press conference, Banghart discussed North Carolina’s demanding nonconference schedule, which includes South Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Alabama and LSU. She made it clear that scheduling elite opponents is an intentional part of her program’s development.

“I think scheduling tells you a lot about how you feel about your team, right? Or how you personally are preparing them,” Banghart said.

She explained that North Carolina wants to reach the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and preparing for that level requires playing teams with similar ambitions.

“In our case, you know, our goals are to advance as far as possible and get all the way to that last weekend of the NCAA Tournament, so we’ve got to get the standard quickly,” she added.

Her message was particularly revealing when discussing the value of facing the nation’s best teams.

“We’ve got to be against the other people that are in that same climb and so that we have a true comparison so it’s not just how are we playing against our opponents and how are they playing against theirs and you try to guess.”

Banghart then delivered one of her strongest statements about the challenge ahead.

“We just want to take it right to the fight. So I think that gives us a good barometer early as we continue to build on our climb.”

She also expressed confidence in her players, adding: “To beat them, you have to actually go out over 94 feet and beat them. We’re preparing to do that.”

That comment captures the mindset Banghart wants North Carolina to bring into Sunday’s contest. She is not interested in avoiding difficult matchups or protecting her team’s record. She wants the Tar Heels to discover where they stand by competing against the highest level of opposition.

Banghart Has Already Seen What South Carolina Can Do

Banghart’s respect for South Carolina is not based solely on preseason expectations. She has already experienced the difficulty of facing Dawn Staley’s program.

Following North Carolina’s 91–83 exhibition loss to South Carolina on October 31, 2025, Banghart recognized the talent on the Gamecocks’ roster while also identifying areas her own team needed to improve.

“The fact of the matter is, is that we gave up 91 points. Some of that is, they’ve got they’ve got first-round draft picks. I get it right. A part of that is that we need to be better,” Banghart said.

She also described the matchup as a contest between two established programs.

“These are two good teams, two great programs, and so heavyweight fight,” she said.

That description is significant. Banghart understands that South Carolina brings a level of talent, physicality and experience that can expose weaknesses if an opponent is not prepared to compete for the full game.

Her comments after that exhibition also showed that she was not simply focused on the final score. She acknowledged the areas where South Carolina caused problems while recognizing the value of testing her young roster against such a high-level opponent.

What Banghart Wants to Learn Against the Gamecocks

At ACC Tipoff, Banghart identified several specific areas where her players need to be tested against elite competition.

She mentioned rebounding responsibilities, one-on-one defensive ability and attacking closeouts as important areas for players such as Achol Akot and Nyla Brooks to evaluate against the best opponents.

Her reasoning was straightforward: if North Carolina has weaknesses that need correcting, she would rather discover them early than wait until the postseason.

“It’s just a really valuable thing,” Banghart explained.

That approach makes Sunday’s meeting especially important for the Tar Heels. South Carolina offers a demanding test of North Carolina’s physicality, execution and ability to handle pressure.

Sunday Presents a Major Early Test

The Tar Heels and Gamecocks will meet Sunday, November 8, in the Ally Tipoff at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Banghart’s comments suggest she views South Carolina as the type of opponent that can help reveal how far her team has progressed and what still needs improvement.

She has acknowledged the Gamecocks’ talent, praised the quality of the programs involved and made clear that North Carolina is preparing to embrace the challenge.

For Banghart, the objective is not simply to play South Carolina. It is to use the opportunity to find out whether the Tar Heels can compete with the standard set by one of women’s college basketball’s elite programs.

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