WBB Tips Off ACC Tournament Play Against Clemson

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC women's basketball team opens ACC Tournament play Thursday, taking on Clemson at 6 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum.

North Carolina (20-9, 11-7 ACC) is seeded seventh in the tournament field. Clemson (17-14, 7-11 ACC) is the No. 10 seed and advanced to the second round with a first-round win over Pitt on Wednesday.

Tar Heels vs Tigers
The Tar Heels and Tigers are meeting for the 90th time in a rivalry that dates back to the 1975-76 season, Carolina's second as a varsity program under the umbrella of the Department of Athletics.

The Tar Heels lead the overall series 61-28 after winning this season's first matchup, the last six in a row, and 11 of the past 13.

Rivalry Notes
• UNC won the season's first meeting, 69-58 at Clemson on Jan. 29.
• The game was the collegiate debut for redshirt freshman guard Kayla McPherson, who had missed all of 2021-22 with a knee injury and then was sidelined for the first 20 games of 2022-23 with a separate injury.
• Freshman guard Paulina Paris made her first start and led UNC with a career-high 22 points, including six 3-pointers. She was named ACC Freshman of the Week the following day.
• UNC led wire-to-wire and was up by 22 early in the third quarter before Clemson used a 17-0 run to cut the margin to four heading into the fourth quarter.
• The game was one of five times this season but the only time in ACC play that UNC never trailed.
• UNC grabbed 16 steals – equal to the season high, which also came against Jackson State in the opener – but also committed a season-high 22 turnovers.

Tournament Notes
• UNC and Clemson last met in ACC Tournament play in 2012, with fifth-seeded Carolina winning 90-51 in a first round game against the No. 12 Tigers.
• UNC is 11-4 all-time against Clemson in ACC Tournament play.
• UNC beat Clemson on the way to five of its nine championships. The Tar Heels beat the Tigers for the ACC title in 1997 and 1998. Clemson beat UNC for the conference championship in 1999.
• UNC's last loss to Clemson in ACC Tournament play was in 2001, when No. 2 Clemson beat No. 7 Carolina in the quarterfinals, 75-57.

Tar Heel Trends
• With Eva Hodgson and Alyssa Ustby back on Feb. 23 vs Virginia Tech (Hodgson after missing eight games with an upper body condition, Ustby after missing five with a lower body injury), the Tar Heels head into the postseason with their maximum of 11 players dressed. The 12th, senior Ariel Young, announced last week that following knee injuries she will not return to action for the Tar Heels and has finished her playing career.
• UNC is averaging 17.2 points per game off turnovers, with opponents averaging 12.7. The Tar Heels got a season-high 30 points off turnovers in the Feb. 12 win over Boston College.
• Six Carolina players have at least one game of 20 or more points this season, most recently Deja Kelly's 24 against Wake Forest. (UNC is close to having seven, with Alyssa Ustby hitting 19 twice so far this season.) Seven different players have led the team in scoring in at least one game this season.
• Deja Kelly has a team-high nine games this season of 20 points or more including one 30-point game.
• Sunday's win over Duke marked the first game this season that not a single Tar Heel scored in double figures. Juniors Deja Kelly, Kennedy Todd-Williams and Alyssa Ustby scored nine each to lead UNC.
• Through 28 games, Kelly has a team-high 93 assists, more than she had in all of last season (83 in 32 games).
• The Virginia Tech home game marked the fifth time this season and the fourth time in ACC play that Deja Kelly has played all 40 minutes in a game. She's one of four players on the team to have played the entirety of a game this season, joining Eva Hodgson (two 40-minute games), Alyssa Ustby (two), and Paulina Paris (one). Kelly played 44:07 in the 2/16 overtime loss at NC State.
• Kennedy Todd-Williams has hit a team-high 47 three-pointers this season, more than her first two seasons (14 as a freshman, 25 as a sophomore) combined. She has at least one three in 24 of 29 games this season and ranks 11th in the ACC with 1.6 threes per game.
• UNC has hit scoring highs and lows in ACC play over the past five games. On Feb. 12th against Boston College, Carolina finished with 73, equal to the season high in ACC play that was also hit on Feb. 2 against Virginia. On Sunday at Duke, the Tar Heels scored just 45 points, the lowest winning score in program history, in a victory over Duke. On the season, UNC is averaging 70.2 points per game, 64.5 in ACC play.
• UNC's 18 assists against Wake Forest marked a season high in ACC play and the most in a conference game since Carolina had 22 vs. Notre Dame in January of 2021.
• UNC's 11 made threes vs. BC (2/12) were the most in ACC play this season and second most (12 vs Wofford) this season. The total matched the team's best in ACC play under fourth-year coach Courtney Banghart.
• UNC is 11-0 this season when outrebounding its opponent. Most recently, Carolina beat Wake Forest 34-26 on the boards on Feb. 19th.

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Players Mentioned

Eva Hodgson

Deja Kelly

Kayla McPherson

Paulina Paris

Kennedy Todd-Williams

Alyssa Ustby

Ariel Young