University of North Carolina Athletics
Thursday, February 17
Chapel Hill
6 PM
North Carolina
vs
Louisville
The Tar Heels will sport pink-accented uniforms for Thursday's Play4Kay game.
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Tar Heels Host No. 3 Louisville Thursday
February 16, 2022 | Women's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Carmichael Arena will play host to a top-25 women's basketball battle on Thursday evening as No. 24 North Carolina takes on No. 3 Louisville. Tipoff is 6 p.m.
UNC comes into its second-to-last home game of the regular season 19-5 overall and 9-5 in Atlantic Coach Conference play. Louisville is 22-2 overall (13-1 ACC) and has won the last eight meetings in this series.
Thursday's game is UNC's annual Play4Kay game, in memory of NC State coach Kay Yow and in support of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, which backs research and programs that support women battling cancer. To learn more, please go to KayYow.com or visit one of the tables on the concourse.
The first 1,000 fans will receive free pink t-shirts and both teams will wear pink uniforms.
For tickets, click here. UNC students and staff get in free with a UNC OneCard.
In addition to the t-shirt giveaway, Carolina students have the chance to win a free pair of Jordans. A winner will be drawn at the end of the game.
Both teams are ranked in the top five in the NET rankings, the NCAA's tool for evaluating teams for selection and seeding in the NCAA Tournament field. Louisville is No. 4 and UNC is No. 5.
Noting the Tar Heels
• Four Tar Heels are averaging double-figure scoring: Deja Kelly leads the team and ranks fourth in the ACC with 15.9 points per game, Alyssa Ustby is at 13.1 ppg, Eva Hodgson 10.1 ppg and Kennedy Todd-Williams 10.0 ppg. Ustby leads the team in rebounding with 8.7 per game and Anya Poole is second at 6.4, with Todd-Williams rounding out the top three at 6.0 rpg.
• As a team, UNC ranks in the top three in the ACC in scoring (2), scoring defense (3), scoring margin (1), rebounds per game (2), offensive rebounds (2), defensive rebounds (3), field goal percentage defense (1), three-point percentage defense (1), steals (2), rebounding margin (2) and turnover margin (1).
• All five of UNC's losses this season have come to teams currently ranked in the AP poll, and four of those have been on the road.
• The Tar Heels were one of the final three teams to stand undefeated this season, winning their first 13 games before suffering their first loss in the Jan. 6 game at NC State.
• Carolina has already significantly bettered its 2021-22 wins total. The Tar Heels finished 13-11 last season after making the program's 28th NCAA Tournament appearance.
• UNC has played the same starting lineup in all 24 games this season, with Deja Kelly, Carlie Littlefield, Kennedy Todd-Williams, Alyssa Ustby and Anya Poole in for the opening jump. In comparison, the Tar Heels tried seven different lineups during the course of last season's 24 games.
• Thursday's game is the second-to-last at home this season for UNC. Up next are road games at Florida State and Virginia before the Tar Heels cap the regular season with Senior Night at home against Duke on Feb. 27.
Trending
• UNC has held its last four opponents (and a total of 11 this season) to single-digit scoring in the first quarter.
• Sophomore Alyssa Ustby has notched a double-double in each of the past four games. Before this streak, she'd never had double-doubles in back-to-back games. She has 11 this season, the most in the ACC.
• Although free throw shooting hasn't been a team strength throughout thee season – the Tar Heels had a .683 team shooting percentage heading into the Miami game – the past three games have been stellar. UNC was 20 of 21 (95.2 percent) against the Hurricanes, 20-26 (76.9) vs. Pitt (76.9) and then 12-13 (92.3) at Virginia Tech. That puts Carolina at 52-60 (86.7) over the past three games and now at 71.0 percent for the season.
• Deja Kelly is 17-17 from the line over the past four games. After scoring in double figures in the season's first 17 games, she hit a streak of single digits, with six points at Georgia Tech (no free throws), seven at Duke (2-4 FH) and no points vs NC State (no free throws). She scored 12 points in the following game at Wake Forest and since then has been back in double figures and perfect from the line. For the season she's shooting .867, best in the ACC.
Noting the Rivalry
• UNC and Louisville will meet Thursday for the 12th time in a series that dates back to the 1984-85 season. The Cardinals lead the series 8-3 and have won the past eight games in a row.
• In the most recent matchup, in Louisville on Jan. 28, 2021, the host Cardinals shot 66.7 percent from the field in the first quarter and led 30-16 10 minutes into the game. Undefeated Louisville was up 55-30 at halftime and stretched the lead to 32 in the third quarter. UNC opened the fourth with a 14-0 run and eventually got the margin to single digits before falling by 11, 79-69. No current Tar Heel scored more than eight points, but Alyssa Ustby led Carolina in rebounding with 10 as UNC won the battle of the boards 35-34.
• In the last game in Chapel Hill, on Jan. 19, 2020, the Cardinals won 74-67. UNC trailed by 20 in the second quarter but cut the margin to four points late before falling by seven.
Up Next
The Tar Heels play back-to-back road games as they head down the season's homestretch. On Sunday, they're at FSU for the only meeting of the season with the Seminoles. Next Thursday they travel to Charlottesville, Va., for a rematch with Virginia. The teams met on Jan. 20 in Chapel Hill with UNC winning 61-52.
The next home game, the final one of the regular season, is on Feb. 27 against Duke. UNC will celebrate Senior Day with ceremonies after the game.
UNC comes into its second-to-last home game of the regular season 19-5 overall and 9-5 in Atlantic Coach Conference play. Louisville is 22-2 overall (13-1 ACC) and has won the last eight meetings in this series.
Thursday's game is UNC's annual Play4Kay game, in memory of NC State coach Kay Yow and in support of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, which backs research and programs that support women battling cancer. To learn more, please go to KayYow.com or visit one of the tables on the concourse.
The first 1,000 fans will receive free pink t-shirts and both teams will wear pink uniforms.
For tickets, click here. UNC students and staff get in free with a UNC OneCard.
In addition to the t-shirt giveaway, Carolina students have the chance to win a free pair of Jordans. A winner will be drawn at the end of the game.
Both teams are ranked in the top five in the NET rankings, the NCAA's tool for evaluating teams for selection and seeding in the NCAA Tournament field. Louisville is No. 4 and UNC is No. 5.
Noting the Tar Heels
• Four Tar Heels are averaging double-figure scoring: Deja Kelly leads the team and ranks fourth in the ACC with 15.9 points per game, Alyssa Ustby is at 13.1 ppg, Eva Hodgson 10.1 ppg and Kennedy Todd-Williams 10.0 ppg. Ustby leads the team in rebounding with 8.7 per game and Anya Poole is second at 6.4, with Todd-Williams rounding out the top three at 6.0 rpg.
• As a team, UNC ranks in the top three in the ACC in scoring (2), scoring defense (3), scoring margin (1), rebounds per game (2), offensive rebounds (2), defensive rebounds (3), field goal percentage defense (1), three-point percentage defense (1), steals (2), rebounding margin (2) and turnover margin (1).
• All five of UNC's losses this season have come to teams currently ranked in the AP poll, and four of those have been on the road.
• The Tar Heels were one of the final three teams to stand undefeated this season, winning their first 13 games before suffering their first loss in the Jan. 6 game at NC State.
• Carolina has already significantly bettered its 2021-22 wins total. The Tar Heels finished 13-11 last season after making the program's 28th NCAA Tournament appearance.
• UNC has played the same starting lineup in all 24 games this season, with Deja Kelly, Carlie Littlefield, Kennedy Todd-Williams, Alyssa Ustby and Anya Poole in for the opening jump. In comparison, the Tar Heels tried seven different lineups during the course of last season's 24 games.
• Thursday's game is the second-to-last at home this season for UNC. Up next are road games at Florida State and Virginia before the Tar Heels cap the regular season with Senior Night at home against Duke on Feb. 27.
Trending
• UNC has held its last four opponents (and a total of 11 this season) to single-digit scoring in the first quarter.
• Sophomore Alyssa Ustby has notched a double-double in each of the past four games. Before this streak, she'd never had double-doubles in back-to-back games. She has 11 this season, the most in the ACC.
• Although free throw shooting hasn't been a team strength throughout thee season – the Tar Heels had a .683 team shooting percentage heading into the Miami game – the past three games have been stellar. UNC was 20 of 21 (95.2 percent) against the Hurricanes, 20-26 (76.9) vs. Pitt (76.9) and then 12-13 (92.3) at Virginia Tech. That puts Carolina at 52-60 (86.7) over the past three games and now at 71.0 percent for the season.
• Deja Kelly is 17-17 from the line over the past four games. After scoring in double figures in the season's first 17 games, she hit a streak of single digits, with six points at Georgia Tech (no free throws), seven at Duke (2-4 FH) and no points vs NC State (no free throws). She scored 12 points in the following game at Wake Forest and since then has been back in double figures and perfect from the line. For the season she's shooting .867, best in the ACC.
Noting the Rivalry
• UNC and Louisville will meet Thursday for the 12th time in a series that dates back to the 1984-85 season. The Cardinals lead the series 8-3 and have won the past eight games in a row.
• In the most recent matchup, in Louisville on Jan. 28, 2021, the host Cardinals shot 66.7 percent from the field in the first quarter and led 30-16 10 minutes into the game. Undefeated Louisville was up 55-30 at halftime and stretched the lead to 32 in the third quarter. UNC opened the fourth with a 14-0 run and eventually got the margin to single digits before falling by 11, 79-69. No current Tar Heel scored more than eight points, but Alyssa Ustby led Carolina in rebounding with 10 as UNC won the battle of the boards 35-34.
• In the last game in Chapel Hill, on Jan. 19, 2020, the Cardinals won 74-67. UNC trailed by 20 in the second quarter but cut the margin to four points late before falling by seven.
Up Next
The Tar Heels play back-to-back road games as they head down the season's homestretch. On Sunday, they're at FSU for the only meeting of the season with the Seminoles. Next Thursday they travel to Charlottesville, Va., for a rematch with Virginia. The teams met on Jan. 20 in Chapel Hill with UNC winning 61-52.
The next home game, the final one of the regular season, is on Feb. 27 against Duke. UNC will celebrate Senior Day with ceremonies after the game.
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