No. 12 WBB Drops Season Opener To No. 21 Oklahoma In France - University of North Carolina Athletics

Monday, November 2

Paris, France

2:30 PM

North Carolina

0-1,0-0ACC

#21 Oklahoma

1-0,0-0SEC

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Oklahoma	18	21	31	21	91
North Carolina	19	19	14	27	79

Game Notes (PDF)

November 2, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PARIS – Hopping the pond to begin the season at the 2026 Oui Play in Paris, No. 12 North Carolina battled back and forth with No. 21 Oklahoma through the first half on Monday night at Adidas Arena, but fell behind in the second half to lose, 91-79.

Despite a balanced scoring attack from North Carolina (0-1) with five in double-figures, the Tar Heels could not slow down one of the nation's best scoring offenses from 2025-26 in Oklahoma (1-0) in the second half.

Freshman Kate Harpring led the Tar Heels with 21 points, the most by a Carolina rookie since at least 2020. Harpring also totaled six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Nyla Brooks posted 13 points while adding two rebounds and two steals.

Attacking the boards for Carolina, Achol Akot and Sophie Burrows each grabbed eight rebounds, with Akot adding 11 points. Setting a new career-high in assists, Reniya Kelly dropped a team-high seven times to best her previous of six.

Proving to be dangerous from deep early, Oklahoma posted back-to-back threes as Carolina found itself trailing in the opening minutes. Harpring got the Tar Heels going with UNC's first five points of the night, to spark a 15-2 run in the opening frame. The Sooners fired back with a scoring run of its own while holding Carolina without a field goal for the final four and a half minutes of the first, yet Carolina held a narrow lead at 19-18 through one.

Working to control the paint, Akot found success for the Tar Heels as they battled to extend a sizeable advantage over the Sooners. Despite Carolina going ahead by as many as six in the second frame, Oklahoma hit 6-of-7 shots to meet UNC once again at 31 all. Facing a two-minute scoring drought and trailing by seven, Carolina fought back with a 7-0 run of its own to once again even Oklahoma. OU took advantage at the free throw line to take a narrow 39-38 lead over the Tar heels at the break.

Struggling to slow the Sooners down on the inside, Carolina found itself down by nine in the opening minutes of the second half. Sharing the ball by dropping an assist on 15-of-17 of Carolina's first field goals of the night, a team approach brought the Tar Heels within striking distance and down by six. With the Tar Heels in foul trouble, Oklahoma took full advantage of the miscues at the charity stripe to extend its hold ahead 70-52.

Carolina worked to chip away at the deficit with eight points in the first few minutes of the fourth, yet the three-ball for Oklahoma kept the Sooners in command. Despite cashing in Sooner turnovers for 27 points on the night and outscoring them 27-21 in the third quarter, it was too large of a deficit to overcome with Carolina falling in the season opener, 91-79.

The No. 12-ranked Tar Heels return to the United States for another highly touted matchup, squaring off against No. 1 South Carolina in Charlotte for the 2026 Ally Tipoff on Sunday, Nov. 8. Tip from the Spectrum Center on ESPN is slated for 5:30 p.m. ET.