WBB Meets Syracuse Thursday Evening

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The UNC women's basketball team plays outside of the state of North Carolina for the final time this regular season on Thursday evening, traveling to take on Syracuse at the JMA Wireless Dome. The No. 14 Tar Heels come in at 17-6 (8-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) while host Syracuse is 15-9 (6-7 ACC).

Tipoff is 7 p.m. and the game will air on ACCNX.

The teams are meeting for the 15th time in a series that dates back to the 1998-99 season. Syracuse leads the series 8-6 after winning eight of the past 11 meetings. UNC has won two of the past three, with both victories coming in Chapel Hill.

NEXT LEVEL BUZZER-BEATER 😳😮‍💨@SeanSullivan_4 with the dramatic end to shootaround today #GoHeels pic.twitter.com/oWJOXrfFfj
— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) February 9, 2023

UNC has won just one of the previous five meetings in Syracuse, 81-68 in the 2000-01 season. The victory came on Nov. 19, 2000, in the Tar Heels' second game of the season and gave Carolina its first win of the year, following a loss at Buffalo two days earlier.

North Carolina won the last matchup, 79-43 at Carmichael Arena on Dec. 30, 2021. Five Tar Heels scored in double figures, led by then-sophomores Deja Kelly and Alyssa Ustby with 12 each. Ustby also led the team in rebounds (14) and assists (six).

• Syracuse won the most recent meeting on its home court, 88-76 on Jan. 19, 2021. In UNC's first road trip of 2021, the Tar Heels led by as many as nine in the third quarter (when Carolina shot 61.1 percent) before a late run by the Orange. Janelle Bailey led UNC with 22 points

• The Tar Heels arrive in Syracuse coming off their first loss in a month. After falling at Miami on Jan. 5, UNC won eight in a row, the team's longest streak in ACC play since a 17-game streak that spanned the 2007-08 and 2008-09 season, before falling at Louisville on Sunday.

• The game is a trip home for freshman Paulina Paris, who is from Congers, N.Y., about a four-hour drive from Syracuse.

• Juniors Deja Kelly and Alyssa Ustby were announced on Tuesday as part of the 30-member Naismith Trophy Midseason Team. Carolina is one of five schools to have two players on the list.

• Junior Anya Poole has scored in double figures the last two games (11 vs. Virginia, 10 vs. Louisville), marking the first time this season and second time in her career she's reached double figures in back-to-back games in ACC play.

• The Louisville game marked the first time this season that junior Kennedy Todd-Williams has led the team in rebounding. She had eight boards, matching her season high in ACC play.

• Seven different Tar Heels have led the team in scoring in at least one game this season, with redshirt freshman Kayla McPherson becoming the latest with her 14 points off the bench against Virginia. Five different players have at least one game of 20 or more points, most recently freshman Paulina Paris with a career-high 22 at Clemson.

• Deja Kelly has a team-high seven games this season of 20 points or more, with the most recent 23 points at Pitt on Jan. 26.

• In ACC games only the Tar Heels rank third in field goal percentage defense, with opponents shooting .348. UNC ranks third in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 59.7 ppg.

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Players Mentioned

Deja Kelly

Kayla McPherson

Paulina Paris

Anya Poole

Kennedy Todd-Williams

Alyssa Ustby