WBB Storms Back To Beat No. 18 Oregon

Thursday, November 24

Portland, Ore.

5 PM ET

North Carolina

5-0,0-0ACC

Oregon

4-1,0-0Pac-12

North Carolina

Oregon

The Tar Heels trailed by as many as seven in the fourth quarter but pulled out a win over Oregon Thursday in Portland.

Photo by: Faith Varga

November 24, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore. – The No. 8 North Carolina women's basketball team trailed by as many as 12 points and led for only 5:43 but managed to pull out an 85-79 win over No. 18 Oregon Thursday in the Phil Knight Invitational at the University of Portland's Chiles Center.

Playing in front a neutral-but-leaning-Oregon crowd and with Knight himself sitting courtside, all five Tar Heel starters hit double figures, led by senior Eva Hodgson's 21. Alyssa Ustby scored 19, Deja Kelly 17, Anya Poole 11 and Kennedy Todd-Williams 10.

"It's early in the year – we've got some things to clean up," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. "But as I just told my guys in the locker room, I'm really glad they're my team. We'll keep getting better. We're certainly proud to be here and glad to be playing for the championship on Sunday."

The Tar Heels will take on No. 5 Iowa State on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET in the PKI championship game. The Cyclones beat Michigan State 80-49 in Thursday's second game.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘯 🗣#GoHeels | #InPursuit pic.twitter.com/URhOnb2kmE — Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) November 25, 2022

In the first game of the Thanksgiving double-header, Oregon jumped out to a 7-0 lead as UNC missed its first three shots. Then the Tar Heels got rolling and scored the next eight – on a layup by Kelly, a three-point play by Ustby and a three-pointer by Todd-Williams – to take an 8-7 lead four minutes into the game. But the Ducks quickly regained the advantage and UNC didn't hold it again until the end of the third quarter, although the Tar Heels cut their deficit to two on numerous occasions.

Oregon led by 12, their largest advantage of the game, at 39-27 following a three by Te-Hina Paopao with 4:21 to play before halftime. The Tar Heels cut the margin to two on a Todd-Williams three-pointer with 41 seconds to play before the break then Paopao hit another three to make the score 44-39 at halftime.

The Ducks increased their lead to 11 in the third quarter before the Tar Heels winnowed it down for good, quickly closing the gap to three with a 8-0 run. Oregon pulled back out to lead by six, then Carolina went on a 7-0 run. Destiny Adams scored on a putback, Ustby added a layup and Kelly hit a free throw to cut Oregon's lead to one. With seconds to play in the period, Hodgson took a charge to give UNC the ball back. Freshman Paulina Paris' only bucket of the game was a layup at the third-quarter buzzer to put UNC up by one, 56-55. It was Carolina's first lead since 8-7.

Oregon again made a run and went up by eight, 66-58, on a lay-up by Paopao, who finished with 18 and was one of four Ducks to hit double figures. With 7:40 to play, the Tar Heels used a timeout to regroup then they put together a 14-3 run over the next 2:28 to take the lead for good.

Hogdson, whose 21 points marked her high as a Tar Heel, hit a three in front of the Carolina bench, took the foul and then made a free throw for a four-point play that put Carolina up 72-69 with 5:12 remaining, and UNC never trailed again. Hodgson, who played her first two years at William & Mary and logged a 34-point game there, made every shot she took in the fourth quarter: three 3-pointers and five free throws for 14 points in the period.

"I knew towards the end of the game that we needed something that would change the stride of the game and the pace and the energy," Hodgson said. "So I caught it and I didn't even think twice about it, just let it fly. The fact that it was an 'and-one' kind of made it a lot sweeter, and right in front of the bench, so everyone could celebrate – it was a lot of fun to do it right there and in that moment with this squad."

Ustby finished with a team-high eight boards to go with her 19 points, and Kelly led the way in assists with seven, equal to her season high and one shy of her career high.

Adams provided a spark off the bench, playing the whole fourth quarter and finishing with five points (2-2 from the field) and five boards.

The Tar Heels matched their season low with eight turnovers while forcing Oregon into 18 and then capitalizing on them for 17 points. Oregon outscored UNC 44-34 in the paint and 21-7 in bench points and also outrebounded the Tar Heels 42-36.