Tar Heels Top Clemson To Advance To ACC Quarters

Thursday, March 2

Greensboro, N.C.

6 PM

North Carolina

21-9,11-7ACC

Clemson (Second Round)

17-15,7-11ACC

Clemson

North Carolina

Eva Hodgson was one of four Tar Heels in double figures with 13 points against Clemson.

Photo by: ACC

March 2, 2023 | Women's Basketball

Box Score ACC Tournament Central Game Notes vs. Duke

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Tar Heels are sticking around this time.

With a 68-58 second-round win over 10^th-seeded Clemson on Thursday evening at the Greensboro Coliseum, seventh-seeded UNC earned another game in Greensboro, advancing to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals. It marked UNC's first ACC Tournament win since 2019.

"We're finally healthy," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. "I think we needed to get our feet settled here, and this time of the year, you just win one and move along."

Carolina (21-9) will take on second-seeded Duke at 6 p.m. Friday. It will be the second meeting between UNC and Duke in the past week – the Tar Heels beat the Blue Devils 45-41 Sunday afternoon in Durham in the final game of the regular season for both teams.

Four Tar Heels scored in double figures Thursday against the Tigers, led by 15 points from junior Alyssa Ustby. Deja Kelly finished with 14 points, Eva Hodgson had 13 and Kennedy Todd-Williams scored 12.

Clemson's Amari Robinson led all scorers with 27 points, equal to her career high. She scored her team's first nine points of the game and had 17 at halftime on perfect 5-for-5 shooting from the floor and 6-for-6 shooting from the foul line.

Both Ustby and Hodgson had their best games since returning from injury layoffs three games ago on Feb. 23 against Virginia Tech, Ustby after missing five games and Hodgson eight. Thursday's game marked the first time that Ustby had scored in double figures since returning, and she also shared the team rebounding lead with six and the assists lead with four.

Hodgson hadn't scored at all since returning to the lineup, going 0-8 overall from the field and 0-5 from three over the past two games. Against the Tigers she put that drought to bed quickly, hitting a three just under three minutes into the game. She hit her next one, too, and the one after that to reach nine points by midway through the first quarter. She finished 4-7 for the night, with all of her attempts coming from long range, and also had four assists.

Todd-Williams led UNC in steals with four.

In the regular-season meeting between the two, a 69-58 Carolina win in Clemson on Jan. 29, the Tar Heels led wire-to-wire. They didn't quite manage that on Thursday, but the Tigers were ahead for only 17 seconds when they went up by one midway through the first quarter. Otherwise Carolina led throughout, and the Tar Heels were up by 14 with 2:22 to play in the third quarter.

Clemson closed the gap to seven points heading into the fourth quarter but never got closer. The UNC lead was 62-55 with 2:53 to play before the Tar Heels scored six in a row to go up by 12. Robinson hit a three with 38 seconds to play for the final margin.

The win was UNC's first in ACC Tournament play since 2019, ending a streak of three consecutive years in which the Tar Heels had lost their opening game in Greensboro. Carolina now has an overall mark of 64-36 in ACC Tournament play.

Friday's meeting with Duke is the third of the season for Carolina. The Tar Heels have won both, 61-56 in Chapel Hill on Jan. 19 and then the low-scoring victory in Durham last Sunday. It will be the teams' first meeting in ACC Tournament play since 2014, when second-seeded Duke beat sixth-seeded UNC 66-61 in the championship game.