Ustby's Double-Double Leads WBB To Homecourt Win

Wednesday, December 7

Chapel Hill

6 PM

North Carolina

7-1,0-0ACC

UNCW

2-6,0-0CAA

UNCW

North Carolina

Alyssa Ustby had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels on Wednesday.

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

December 7, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The No. 8 North Carolina women's basketball team improved to 7-1 with a homecourt win over UNCW Wednesday evening, 64-42 at Carmichael Arena. Junior Alyssa Ustby led UNC with 16 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Kennedy Todd-Williams (12 points) and Deja Kelly (10) also hit double figures for Carolina.

The game was the first of three in a row at home for the Tar Heels, who were coming off their first loss of the season. Next up is matchup with Wofford on Sunday at 1 p.m.

"It's good to have another opportunity to play against someone else besides ourselves," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said after the win over UNCW. "I thought we were a little bit out of rhythm understandably, probably because it's exam week. Defensively we weren't as good as we usually are. We kind of slogged through the game."

Playing on their home court for the first time since Nov. 16, the Tar Heels never trailed. A three by Todd-Williams 24 seconds into the action got UNC rolling. The game was knotted at 3-3 and again at 5-5, but after that Carolina pulled ahead and stayed there. UNC led by six after a quarter and pushed the lead into double digits for good by halftime, when the home team led 35-22.

Carolina had its best shooting percentage of the game in the third quarter, hitting 50 percent (8-16) from the field. For the game UNC finished at 40 percent (24-60).

The Tar Heels capitalized on opportunities throughout, scoring 20 points off the Seahawks' 22 turnovers and outscoring the visitors 17-0 in transition.

Eleven players – a season high – saw action for UNC and nine scored, but in the end it was UNC's second-lowest scoring total of the season, just a point behind the season-low 63 at Indiana last week.

Perhaps the brightest spot of the game came in the third quarter, when redshirt senior guard Ariel Young checked into the game for the first time since the end of the 2020-21 season. Young missed all of last year with a knee injury she sustained in the fall of 2021. "What a huge moment when you've missed a year because of an ACL to have an opportunity to go into a basketball game," Banghart said. "It's always good for a coach when you can call a kid's name who's been out for a while."

Destiny Adams came off the bench to play 22 minutes and contributed a career-high three assists and matched her career highs with four steals and two blocks. She also had seven points, four rebounds and zero turnovers.

Ustby's double-double was the 18^th of her career. After a season-low eight points in the loss at Indiana, she bounced back to hit eight of her 10 shots against UNCW.

Lexi Jackson led the Seahawks (2-6) with 11 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots. Jayde Gamble also hit double figures with 10 points.

• Banghart coached the game in a t-shirt that recognized UNC's 2022 NCAA Field Hockey Championship, which the Tar Heels won on Nov. 20. Banghart had planned to wear the shirt in team's first home game after Carolina won the title but the gesture became even more meaningful when UNC field hockey coach Karen Shelton announced her retirement Wednesday afternoon following 42 seasons and 10 NCAA Championship. "We'll always celebrate national championships here – we're playing for the Carolina on the front of the jersey," Banghart said. "It worked out well that it's also a day to honor Karen and all that she's done, but true to Karen, she'd rather me honor her team and that was the plan all along."