Kelly Earns National Player Of The Week Honor

Big week, big honor for UNC's Deja Kelly. The senior guard has been named one of five USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's National Players of the Week after averaging 25 points in No. 20 North Carolina's two wins last week.

Against Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Thursday, Kelly scored 27 points, equal to her season high, and rounded out her stats line with five rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal as the Tar Heels won 73-68.

On Sunday against No. 13 Louisville, the top defensive team in the league, Kelly scored 23 points, including a 14-16 night at the foul line. She had 11 of her points during a pivotal third quarter in which Carolina surged from a halftime tie to a nine-point lead heading into the fourth. She also handed out a team-high 6 assists.

In addition to her 25 points, Kelly averaged 5.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes in both games.

Joining Kelly on five-member team are Marshall's Abby Beeman, UConn's Paige Bueckers, Syracuse's Dyaisha Fair and Ohio State's Cotie McMahon. Virginia's Kymora Johnson was named the Tamika Catchings Freshman of the Week and Stanford was recognized as the Team of the Week.

Kelly has scored 23 points or more in each of the past four outings and is now averaging a team-best 16.4 points per game, 18.3 against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents.

Next up for UNC (14-5 overall, 6-1 ACC) is a home game against Miami on Thursday evening.

For information on ththis week's full team of honorees, click here.

Players Mentioned

Deja Kelly

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