WBB Drops ACC Opener To FSU, 78-71

Thursday, December 29

Chapel Hill

8 PM

North Carolina

9-3,0-1ACC

Florida State

13-2,2-0ACC

Florida St.

North Carolina

Kennedy Todd-Williams was one of four Tar Heels in double figures with 16 points.

December 29, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 13 North Carolina opened Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball play with a loss Thursday, falling 78-71 to Florida State at Carmichael Arena.

With their second loss in a row, the Tar Heels are now 9-3 overall and 0-1 in ACC play. The visiting Seminoles improved to 13-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play.

"Welcome to the ACC," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. "Two good teams tonight on full display. We had a tough time matching Florida State's physicality – to give up 37 second-chance points ... you're not going to win a lot of those games, if that's what you're going to give up.

"Put on top of that, shooting 4-23 from three is a tough kind of combination of statistics. All things aside, (my team) still had a chance to win it late. I thought they were better than a week ago."

Four Tar Heels scored in double figures, led by Deja Kelly with 20 points. Alyssa Ustby scored 16 and grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. Kennedy Todd-Williams also scored 16, 11 of them in the second half. Eva Hodgson had 12 points and a team-best seven assists.

FSU's Ta'Niya Latson, who leads the ACC in scoring, had just five points in the first half but finished with 21 to pace her team. Makayla Timpson added 20 points and 11 rebounds.

The Seminoles grabbed 51 rebounds, the high by a UNC opponent this season, to the Tar Heels' 41.

Carolina hit just four of 23 three-point attempts for the second-lowest percentage of the season, 17.4.

The teams were tied 22-22 at the end of the first quarter. After committing just two turnovers in the first 10 minutes, UNC gave the ball away five times in a three-minute span to start the second quarter. Still, the Tar Heels managed to edge ahead, taking a 28-23 lead on a layup by Ustby four minutes into the period. They eventually stretched the lead to 32-23 with 3:51 to play before halftime.

UNC led 41-35 at halftime, despite FSU holding a 20-3 advantage in second-chance points.

Latson scored her team's first five points out of halftime to put her in double digits, and UNC missed its first two shots before Todd-Williams hit one to get UNC on the third-quarter board.

FSU tied the game midway through the quarter and then went ahead on a layup by Timpson with 4:31 to play in the third period. The Seminoles would hold onto the lead for the rest of the game, although UNC cut it to one on several occasions.

With 5:21 to play, Hodgson nailed a three to make it a one-point game at 63-62. After Timpson scored to again put FSU up by three, a jumper by Kelly again made the margin one. FSU scored the next four points and Carolina never got closer than three again.

Next up for the Tar Heels is a pair of games on the road, at Virginia Tech on Sunday and at Miami on Thursday. The next home game is Jan. 8 against Notre Dame.

"It's a long season and it's important to keep getting better," Banghart said. "I thought we got better from a week ago."