Kate Harpring has played just four college games, and she is already in North Carolina’s record book. On Saturday, the freshman scored 30 points at the Palestra in Philadelphia, helping No. 23 UNC beat Penn 71-60. No Tar Heel freshman had scored that many in a game since 2018, and she did it in her first true road game.
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Harpring’s 30 points tie the most ever by a North Carolina freshman. She now shares that mark with Janelle Bailey and Stephanie Watts. She is also the first Tar Heel of any class to reach 30 since Deja Kelly did it in 2023.
The record came with a shot. With UNC leading by nine, Harpring hit a three-pointer in the fourth quarter to make it 64-53. That shot gave her 30. She made 11 of 21 shots overall, five of nine threes and three of four free throws. She also grabbed seven rebounds, handed out three assists and stole the ball three times, with only one turnover. She played all 40 minutes.
She scored 19 points in the first half and hit four threes before the break. The rest of the team struggled by comparison. The other Tar Heels shot 14-for-41, or 34.1%, so Harpring’s 11 made baskets nearly matched everyone else’s combined.
None of this surprised the people who know her. Harpring is a 5-foot-11 guard from Atlanta who was the Naismith High School Player of the Year last season and a McDonald’s All-American. She won gold with Team USA at the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup.
ESPN ranked her the No. 4 recruit in the country, and 247Sports ranked her first. Before the season, she scored 29 points in an exhibition against Maryland, a 72-68 loss. A clip of her highlights passed 415,000 views on X, and WNBA rookie Flau’jae Johnson wrote, “She a real dawg. ACC in trouble.”
Coach Courtney Banghart has been saying it for months. After the Penn game, she explained what drives her freshman. “If she had 40 and we lost she wouldn’t be happy,” Banghart said. She called her “one of the special ones,” given how little college basketball she has played.
Harpring also found time for a little Philadelphia sightseeing before the game. A day earlier, she ran up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps, just like in “Rocky,” her dad’s favorite movie, and sent him a picture. After the win, she ate her first cheesesteak.
Beyond Harpring’s individual achievement, the win was important for a North Carolina team that needed some momentum. UNC lost its opener to No. 21 Oklahoma in Paris, 91-79. Then it fell 84-39 to No. 1 South Carolina in Charlotte. A 109-40 win over North Carolina Central got the Tar Heels going, and the Penn win moved them to 2-2.
How North Carolina Beat Penn at the Palestra
The setting made the night even more special. The Palestra is Penn’s home gym, known as a “cathedral of college basketball,” and it turns 100 this year. The crowd of 2,714 was the biggest ever for a Quakers women’s game, and it came on Homecoming.
Penn did not make it easy. The Quakers opened on a 10-6 run, and Tina Njike scored 13 first-half points. UNC closed the first quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 18-16. The score was tied at 28 before Laila Hull hit a late three, and North Carolina went to the break up 35-31.
The third quarter stayed tight. Penn went almost four minutes without a field goal, but it kept chipping away. Mataya Gayle hit a three and two free throws to cut the gap to 48-45, and UNC led 50-45 going into the fourth.
Then the Tar Heels pushed. They opened the final quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 56-45. Penn answered with five straight points to get within 57-53, with a little over five minutes left. UNC then scored nine in a row, five of them from Harpring, to lead 66-53. Penn made just one shot over the last few minutes.
The numbers backed up North Carolina’s control down the stretch. The Tar Heels shot 40.3% and outrebounded Penn 40-35. They scored 30 points in the paint to Penn’s 16 and 16 on the fast break to Penn’s five. Achol Akot added 16 points and eight rebounds. Gayle led Penn with 24 points, hitting 11 of 12 free throws, and Njike had 18. The loss was Penn’s first this season, leaving it 4-1.
Next, North Carolina heads to Orlando for the WBCA Showcase, where it plays Texas Tech on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 6 p.m. and Alabama two days later. Harpring has four college games behind her and a record next to her name. For a team that started 0-2, her 30 points came at a good time.