WBB Drops Road Battle To No. 5 NC State

Thursday, February 1

Raleigh, N.C.

8 PM

North Carolina

15-7,7-3ACC

NC State

19-2,7-2ACC

North Carolina

NC State

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

February 1, 2024 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

RALEIGH, N.C. –North Carolina came close but couldn't quite pull out a road win against fifth-ranked NC State on Thursday night, briefly pulling ahead in the fourth quarter but ultimately falling 63-59 in an Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball matchup at Reynolds Coliseum.

Senior Deja Kelly led the No. 24 Tar Heels (15-7, 7-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) with 21 points, 15 of which came in the third quarter. Senior Alyssa Ustby and junior Maria Gakdeng both turned in 10-point, 11-rebound double-doubles for UNC. For Ustby, it was her 11^th double-double of the season and 33^rd of her career. It was Gakdeng's second as a Tar Heel and the fifth of her career.

UNC trailed by seven at halftime, 31-24, after its lowest scoring half in ACC play and its first half this season with neither a three-pointer or a free throw.

In the third quarter, Kelly quickly took care of both of those, hitting a pair of free throws 32 seconds into the period and then her team's first three at the 7:45 mark to make the margin six, 37-31. She scored Carolina's first 10 points of the period and the Tar Heels continued to surge, ending the quarter within a point, 49-48.

A jumper by Lexi Donarski 35 seconds into the fourth quarter put UNC up by a point, and a putback by Gakdeng made it a three-point Carolina lead at 52-49 with 8:33 to play. But the Wolfpack again pulled ahead on back-to-back Aziaha James buckets, and NC State never trailed again.

After the Wolfpack went up by eight with 4:33 to play on a pair of James free throws, UNC's Reniya Kelly scored five points in a row to pull her team within three, 62-59, with 3:45 remaining but the Tar Heels didn't score again and NC State came up with just one more free throw, with seven seconds to play. Both teams missed their last five shots of the night.

Saniya Rivers finished with 14 points and grabbed nine boards for the Wolfpack (19-2, 7-2), and Mimi Collins added another 14 points with seven rebounds. James and Zoe Brooks scored 10 each.

The loss was UNC's third of the season to a team currently ranked in the nation's top five.

The Tar Heels are back in action on Sunday, facing off against another ranked team in No. 17 Virginia Tech. The noon game is UNC's annual Play4Kay game, and the first 1,000 fans will get pink t-shirts.

Notes:
• Kelly's 21-point game was her eighth of the season and fifth in ACC play at 20 or more.
• UNC's five free throw attempts marked a season low, and the team's five makes equaled a season low.