University of North Carolina Athletics
Sunday, February 7
Chapel Hill
2:00 PM
North Carolina
76
vs
69
NC State
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Tar Heels Topple Fourth-Ranked Wolfpack
February 7, 2021 | Women's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – North Carolina knocked off No. 4 NC State Sunday afternoon in an Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball battle, winning 76-69 at Carmichael Arena. Freshman Alyssa Ustby led UNC with 20 points and 12 rebounds, both career highs, and graduate student Stephanie Watts added 17 points with nine rebounds as the Tar Heels improved to 9-8 overall, 4-8 in ACC play and 2-2 against ranked teams.
NC State, which was coming off a win over No. 1 Louisville, fell to 12-2 (7-2).
"This game was a battle and it couldn't have been accomplished without everybody working together and trusting one another," Ustby said. "We all really stepped up to the challenge together and got it done. I took this rivalry very seriously and did my best to help my team come out with a win."
It's the third year in a row that an unranked Tar Heel team has beaten a top-10 Wolfpack squad. In 2020, NC State was No. 9 when UNC won at Carmichael. In 2019, NC State was No. 7 when UNC won in Raleigh.
"These rivalry games are a sacred part of sports," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. "I told (the team) that: this is for the institution, it's for our program, it's for our tradition and you have to honor that with your energy, and they did that."
The last time the Tar Heels took the Carmichael court, on Thursday evening, they fell 61-51 to Florida State, shooting a dismal 27.5 percent for the game and just 19.4 percent from three-point range with their lowest scoring output of the season. The performance was so bad that Banghart told her players to forget it and move on to NC State.
And move on they did. Ustby powered the Tar Heels from the start, winning the opening tip and then scoring eight points in the first quarter. The Tar Heels ended the period with a 7-0 run to take a 19-16 lead into the second quarter.
By halftime Carolina had stretched the lead to seven, 37-30. The Tar Heels shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, including a 5-for-11 showing from three, while the Wolfpack shot 33.3 percent and hit three of 12 from long range.
UNC scored the first five points of the third quarter to move ahead by 12 just under two minutes into the period when a jumper by grad student Petra Holešínská made it UNC 42-30. The Tar Heels still held that margin at 44-32 with 5:25 to play when the Wolfpack mounted a comeback with a 13-0 run that ended with a one-point NC State lead, 45-44. A layup by Jada Boyd with two second to play in the quarter made it 52-49 Wolfpack heading into the fourth.
UNC has trailed after the third quarter six times this season, and five of those games have ended in Tar Heel losses. With her team about to begin the final period, Banghart asked her players, "How tired of you on losing games in the fourth quarter?"
The answer: very. "I think we kept our feet on the gas instead of being tentative," she said.
The Tar Heels opened with back-to-back threes from Holešínská and Kennedy Todd-Williams in the first 1:02 of the period, and the shot by Todd-Williams put UNC ahead for good. The Tar Heels hit five of their seven three-point attempts in the quarter – with makes by four different players – for a hard-to-beat 71.4 shooting percentage from long range. They also delivered on 10 of 12 free throws, leading to an on-court celebration and just the second win in 2021.
"We've been working hard and it all came together for us," Watts said. "We know we're a talented team and when we play together, move the ball and come out with energy I think we can beat anybody, and we showed that."
After Ustby's 20 and Watts' 17, Holešínská scored 15 and senior center Janelle Bailey added 10.
Ustby's big game came on the heels of her first scoreless game, an 0-for-6 night against FSU. Against NC State, she was perfect from three-point range, hitting a team-high four from long range as UNC totaled 11 for its best team shooting day of the season.
The Wolfpack won the rebounding battle, 44-39, just the third time this year that the Tar Heels have been outrebounded.
The Tar Heels are now idle for a week after the postponement of Thursday's home game against Boston College. Their next game is on Sunday at Pitt.
• The battle with the Wolfpack was UNC's second against a top-five team in the past 10 days, following a 79-68 loss at No. 1 Louisville on Jan. 28.
• The Tar Heels didn't take a single free throw in the first half, just the second time this season that's happened, but they hit 13 of 15 attempts in the second with just two players going to the line. Bailey was 6-for-7 and Watts was 7-for-8.
Gallery: (2-7-2021) Tar Heels Take Down Wolfpack 76-69
NC State, which was coming off a win over No. 1 Louisville, fell to 12-2 (7-2).
"This game was a battle and it couldn't have been accomplished without everybody working together and trusting one another," Ustby said. "We all really stepped up to the challenge together and got it done. I took this rivalry very seriously and did my best to help my team come out with a win."
It's the third year in a row that an unranked Tar Heel team has beaten a top-10 Wolfpack squad. In 2020, NC State was No. 9 when UNC won at Carmichael. In 2019, NC State was No. 7 when UNC won in Raleigh.
"These rivalry games are a sacred part of sports," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. "I told (the team) that: this is for the institution, it's for our program, it's for our tradition and you have to honor that with your energy, and they did that."
The last time the Tar Heels took the Carmichael court, on Thursday evening, they fell 61-51 to Florida State, shooting a dismal 27.5 percent for the game and just 19.4 percent from three-point range with their lowest scoring output of the season. The performance was so bad that Banghart told her players to forget it and move on to NC State.
And move on they did. Ustby powered the Tar Heels from the start, winning the opening tip and then scoring eight points in the first quarter. The Tar Heels ended the period with a 7-0 run to take a 19-16 lead into the second quarter.
By halftime Carolina had stretched the lead to seven, 37-30. The Tar Heels shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, including a 5-for-11 showing from three, while the Wolfpack shot 33.3 percent and hit three of 12 from long range.
UNC scored the first five points of the third quarter to move ahead by 12 just under two minutes into the period when a jumper by grad student Petra Holešínská made it UNC 42-30. The Tar Heels still held that margin at 44-32 with 5:25 to play when the Wolfpack mounted a comeback with a 13-0 run that ended with a one-point NC State lead, 45-44. A layup by Jada Boyd with two second to play in the quarter made it 52-49 Wolfpack heading into the fourth.
UNC has trailed after the third quarter six times this season, and five of those games have ended in Tar Heel losses. With her team about to begin the final period, Banghart asked her players, "How tired of you on losing games in the fourth quarter?"
The answer: very. "I think we kept our feet on the gas instead of being tentative," she said.
The Tar Heels opened with back-to-back threes from Holešínská and Kennedy Todd-Williams in the first 1:02 of the period, and the shot by Todd-Williams put UNC ahead for good. The Tar Heels hit five of their seven three-point attempts in the quarter – with makes by four different players – for a hard-to-beat 71.4 shooting percentage from long range. They also delivered on 10 of 12 free throws, leading to an on-court celebration and just the second win in 2021.
"We've been working hard and it all came together for us," Watts said. "We know we're a talented team and when we play together, move the ball and come out with energy I think we can beat anybody, and we showed that."
After Ustby's 20 and Watts' 17, Holešínská scored 15 and senior center Janelle Bailey added 10.
Ustby's big game came on the heels of her first scoreless game, an 0-for-6 night against FSU. Against NC State, she was perfect from three-point range, hitting a team-high four from long range as UNC totaled 11 for its best team shooting day of the season.
The Wolfpack won the rebounding battle, 44-39, just the third time this year that the Tar Heels have been outrebounded.
The Tar Heels are now idle for a week after the postponement of Thursday's home game against Boston College. Their next game is on Sunday at Pitt.
• The battle with the Wolfpack was UNC's second against a top-five team in the past 10 days, following a 79-68 loss at No. 1 Louisville on Jan. 28.
• The Tar Heels didn't take a single free throw in the first half, just the second time this season that's happened, but they hit 13 of 15 attempts in the second with just two players going to the line. Bailey was 6-for-7 and Watts was 7-for-8.
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