Tar Heels Win Back-And-Forth Battle In Bimini

Friday, November 26

Bimini, Bahamas

1 PM

North Carolina

5-0,0-0ACC

VCU

3-2,0-0Atlantic 10

North Carolina

VCU

Alyssa Ustby (left) led UNC with 23 points against VCU and Deja Kelly (25) added 15.

November 26, 2021 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BIMINI, Bahamas – The North Carolina women's basketball team's matchup with VCU on Friday was unique in a number of ways: the Tar Heels played out of the U.S., in a high school gym. They trailed for the first time this season and gave up 50 points for the first time this season. But in the end, the result was familiar, as the UNC beat VCU 72-59 to improve to 5-0.

"You've got to win lots of different ways in a season of this length," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. "We had to win a really a gritty one. We didn't shoot the ball very well, we didn't play our best at all spots, and they were really physical. It was so loud in there you couldn't really hear what was going on, so it was just an unique environment and our guys found a way to win. I'm certainly happy to be heading on to the next one with a win."

The game was played at a local school, Gateway Christian Academy, as part of the Goombay Splash. The final game of the event pits Carolina against Washington (2-2) on Saturday at noon.

𝙒𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 👣 🤪… 📍Bimini, Bahamas (Game 1) ☑️#GoHeels #InPursuit pic.twitter.com/8nEX4FqUJ8 — Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) November 27, 2021

Friday in a season-high 39 minutes of play, sophomore Alyssa Ustby turned in her second-straight double-double with 23 points, equal to her career high, and 10 rebounds. She led four Tar Heels in double figures, with sophomore Deja Kelly adding 15, junior Eva Hodgson 14 off the bench and grad student Carlie Littlefield with 10.

Taya Robinson led VCU (3-2) with 18 points and Chloe Bloom added 11 for the Rams, who hit nine 3-pointers, a high by a Tar Heel opponent this season.

The Tar Heels made a season-low two of their 13 attempts from long range, both by Hodgson. But they made up the difference with free throws, hitting 16 of their 19. (VCU was 4-8 from the foul line.) Ustby was 5-5, Kelly was 5-6 and Littlefield was 4-6 as UNC went with a smaller lineup for the majority of the game. In addition to Ustby's 39 minutes, guards Kelly, Littlefield, Hodgson and Todd-Williams all played 28 minutes or more.

VCU scored first, on a 3-pointer 41 seconds into the game, marking the first time this season that the Tar Heels have trailed. The first quarter was back and forth, with the largest margin either way UNC's five-point advantage – 14-9 – after a six-point run at the end of the quarter.

In the second quarter, the Tar Heels increased their lead to 10 on a Hodgson three and a Kelly jumper early in the period, but the Rams continued to chip away, getting as close as three points before a three-point play by Ustby again gave Carolina some breathing room. UNC led 34-28 at halftime, with Ustby already at 13 points and seven boards.

VCU outscored Carolina 11-4 coming out of halftime and grabbed the lead with 6:11 to play in the third quarter, 39-38. After UNC called a timeout, the Tar Heels again took the lead on a jumper by Kelly to make it 40-39. Out of a subsequent media timeout, the Rams again went up, taking a 41-40 lead on a layup by Madison Hattix-Covington. The Tar Heels answered on a bucket by Hodgson, and that was the last time UNC trailed. The score was tied again in the final three minutes of third-quarter play, but UNC was up five at the end of the period, courtesy of a layup by Todd-Williams, who kicked off that possession with a defensive rebound on the other end.

The Tar Heels steadily pulled away in the fourth quarter, hitting a 14-point advantage, their largest of the game, with just under four minutes to play. The final margin of 12 was by far the slimmest of the season for the Tar Heels, with 33 (at TCU) the next closest.

"I was super proud of them," Banghart said of her team. "It was a totally different routine, totally different rhythm, not only to the game but to the prep for it, being an international experience.. They just trusted one another and they matched the energy of the moment."

UNC improved to 5-0 for the third time in Banghart's three seasons in Chapel Hill, but got there with three wins away from home for the first time since 2004 and just the third time in program history.