Saturday, March 19
Tucson, Ariz.
7:30 PM (ET)
North Carolina
24-6,13-5ACC
79
vs
66
Stephen F. Austin (NCAA 1st Round)
28-5,17-1WAC
1
2
3
4
F
SFA
18
18
20
10
66
North Carolina
18
15
21
25
79
Team Stats
SFA
UNC
FG%
.338
.464
3FG%
.310
.391
FT%
.813
.783
RB
36
38
TO
13
16
STL
7
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
28
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
8
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
Deja Kelly exploded for 28 points in the win.
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Kelly Leads WBB Past Stephen F. Austin, 79-66, In NCAA First Round
March 19, 2022 | Women's Basketball
TUCSON, Ariz. – Five Tar Heels hit double figures and UNC more than doubled up Stephen F. Austin in a pivotal fourth quarter on the way to a 79-66 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament first round win on Saturday at the McKale Center. Carolina (24-6) advanced to the tournament's second round for the first time since 2015 and will meet host Arizona on Monday for a spot in the Sweet 16.
"What I'll remember about this game is how much these guys trusted each other," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. "It's a huge win for our program with how far we've come and we're looking forward to the next opportunity."
Sophomore Deja Kelly led all scorers with 28 points, topping 20 for the seventh time this season. She was 8-15 from the field with four three-pointers and hit all eight of her free throws. Kennedy Todd-Williams, also a sophomore, had 15 points. Carlie Littlefield and Alyssa Ustby scored 13 each and Eva Hodgson added 10.
🗣️ I was going to do whatever it took to pull out this game – @dejakelly25 #GoHeels x #InPursuit x #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/IbCpDQKtW1— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) March 20, 2022
Littlefield led Carolina with nine rebounds, one shy of matching her career high, and Ustby grabbed eight as the Tar Heels outrebounded the Ladyjacks 22-14 after halftime to win the rebounding battle for the 10th game in a row, 38-36 overall.
The teams were tied at 18 after the first quarter but SFA opened up a 10-point lead in the second quarter and still led by three at halftime, 36-33. Although Carolina made runs, SFA still led at the end of the third quarter, 56-54.
But the fourth quarter was all Carolina. Hodgson tied the game at 56-56 with a floater just over a minute in and then Todd-Williams drove for a bucket that gave the Tar Heels a lead they'd hold onto. A pair of free throws from Hodgson made it a four-point advantage before SFA's Zya Nugent, who finished with 26 points, hit one of her five 3-pointers to make the margin one. After that the Tar Heels went on a 10-0 run – a long two by Todd-Williams, back-to-back threes by Kelly and Littlefield, then another jumper from Kelly – to go up 70-59, and they held onto the double-digit advantage the rest of the way.
Carolina shot 53.8 (7-13) from the field in the fourth quarter and nine of 10 free throw attempts.
"I think in the fourth quarter we just had to dig deep," Ustby said. " Everybody is tired at that point. You're playing a great opponent so it's all about doing the little things, talking to your teammates, getting in gaps, being on help-side defense. We really had to focus and lock in defensively to keep them off the scoreboard."
Monday's game will tip off at 10 p.m. ET/7 MST on ESPN2.
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