UNC Pulls Out Tough Win Over Charlotte To Improve To 5-0

Sunday, December 6

Chapel Hill

4:00 PM

North Carolina

5-0,0-0ACC

Charlotte

-04,00 CUSA

Charlotte

North Carolina

Grad student Stephanie Watts led UNC with 17 points in the win over Charlotte.

December 6, 2020 | Women's Basketball

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By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL – The UNC women's basketball team completed nonconference play undefeated with an 81-75 win Sunday afternoon against Charlotte at Carmichael Arena. The Tar Heels outscored their guests 8-3 over the final 1:53 of play to pull out the victory and improve to 5-0 on the season.

Stephanie Watts made five of six free throws and Ariel Young hit a three from the corner to account for the Tar Heels' scoring down the stretch. Watts, a graduate student guard whose experience was key for Carolina, led the way with 17 points in the game. Petra Holešínská, another grad student, had 13 points, as did freshman Alyssa Ustby. Freshman Deja Kelly scored eight points in the first half and finished with 11.

Charlotte senior Octavia Jett-Wilson led all scorers with 22 points.

With a six-point margin of victory, Sunday's matchup looked a lot more like the games the Tar Heels – who won their first four games by an average margin of 46 points – expect as they start Atlantic Coast Conference play in the coming week, traveling to Wake Forest on Thursday and Louisville on Sunday.

"We knew this was going to be the start of the really competitive part of our season," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. "Charlotte is a great team and they've got really good seniors that have played this game for a long time. We knew they were going to give us a battle."

The 49ers, who fell to 0-4 with their fourth single-digit loss of the season, scored the first six points of the game and kept the margin close throughout. The Tar Heels led by just one, 41-40, at halftime then started to pull away in the third quarter, stretching the lead to nine on an Ustby layup with 1:08 to play in the period, the only quarter in which there was no lead change.

That nine-point lead turned out to be the largest advantage of the game as the 49ers got a three-pointer from sophomore Cali Konek with 19 seconds to play in the period to close the gap to six points heading into the final quarter.

Konek hit another three 14 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it a three-point game. The Tar Heels again pulled away, gaining a seven-point cushion on a three from Watts and a free throw from freshman Kennedy Todd-Williams before Charlotte senior Mariah Linney hit a three to draw her team back within four. After a pair of Charlotte free throws, Linney made another three to give her team the lead, 69-68 with 3:55 to play.

Watts scored four points in a row for UNC on two free throws and a floater in the lane but the 49ers answered with four points by junior Jada McMillian. She hit two free throws to give Charlotte a one-point lead with 2:10 to play, 73-72, before UNC's late run to close out the game.

I thought we fought hard and stuck together," Watts said. "We're a young team and that was our first real challenge but I think we're going to just grow and get better every single game."

Banghart pointed out that even the two grad students who provided game-savvy experience down the stretch are new to this team. Of the nine players who saw 10 minutes or more of action Sunday, only one – senior center Janelle Bailey – played for Carolina last season. Banghart knows that her team, and the five Tar Heel freshmen in particular, will grow from this one.

"This was a great experience for my young guys to see how hard they have to play on every possession," Banghart said. "There are a lot of takeaways but that's for film tomorrow – for today it was: Stick with us, keep getting better, and great win."

Gallery: (12-6-2020) Tar Heels Defeat 49ers