Courtney Banghart, the head coach of the North Carolina women's basketball team, wasted no time in expressing her enthusiasm ahead of her team's matchup against No. 5 NC State on Thursday night.
Banghart stated at the start of Tuesday's media availability session, "It's simply a terrific week for college basketball." "It didn't take me long at Carolina to realize the significance of this game."
Banghart is 2-2 versus NC State in her third season with the Tar Heels, with each win coming in Carmichael Arena against a top-10 Wolfpack club. Carolina's last victory over NC State in Raleigh occurred in 2019, when the Tar Heels upset a then-unbeaten Wolfpack team rated No. 7 at the time.
Thursday night, the state will host four rated teams, including No.
No. 17 Duke takes on No. 16 Georgia Tech in Durham on Thursday night, giving the state four ranked teams to watch. The ACC presently has six teams rated in the AP Top25, which is the most of any conference in the country. Tobacco Road is home to half of those teams.
"It's extremely terrible if this doesn't thrill the state of North Carolina," Banghart added. "Any other area, I challenge you... to be able to witness such outstanding basketball players from all around the country who have decided to play in the Triangle. I'm very proud to have been a part of that for this program."