University of North Carolina Athletics
Thursday, February 22
Chapel Hill
8 PM
North Carolina
vs
NC State
NC State won the season's first meetng, 63-59 in Raleigh on Feb. 1.
Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI
WBB Welcomes No. 6 NC State Thursday
February 21, 2024 | Women's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Two top-10 opponents loom for the North Carolina women's basketball team this week, and the Tar Heels will face the first of them at home on Thursday. Carolina hosts No. 6 NC State at Carmichael Arena for an 8 p.m. matchup that will air on the ACC Network.
Click here for tickets. Thursday's game is one of just two remaining at home this season and the only one with tickets still available.
Students and staff get in free with a UNC One Card.
It's Throwback Thursday and the first 500 students at the game will get free retro t-shirts.
Carolina comes into the game at 17-9 (9-5 ACC) after wins over Pitt and Wake Forest last week. NC State is 23-3 (11-3) following an overtime win over Georgia Tech on Sunday.
After Thursday's action, the Tar Heels head for Blacksburg, Va., and a Sunday matchup with the No. 8 Hokies.
Heels vs. Pack
UNC and NC State are meeting for the 119th time in a rivalry that dates back to the 1974-75 season, Carolina's first as a varsity program under the umbrella of the Department of Athletics.
NC State leads the series 64-54 after winning this year's first meeting, 63-59 in Raleigh on Feb. 1. The teams split last season's matchups, with each team winning on its home court.
• In the most recent meeting, in Chapel Hill (Jan. 15, 2023), UNC won 56-47 in front of a sellout crowd at Carmichael. The No. 22 Tar Heels shot just 29.7 for the game but improved to 58.3 percent for the fourth quarter, when the home team outscored the visitors 25-15 to take the win.
• The teams have split their matchups in four of the past five seasons. (NC State won both in 21-22).
UNC Notes
• With UNC's guard ranks slimmed by injury, Lexi Donarski ranks second (37.7) and Deja Kelly third (36.7) in the ACC in minutes played per conference game. Kelly has played every second in seven of the past nine games.
• Alyssa Ustby scored a career-best 25 points at Wake Forest, giving UNC 20-point games by three different players over the past three games. Against Pitt it was Donarski with 20, and against Duke it was Deja Kelly with 20.
• Deja Kelly has been to the foul line 10 or more times in seven of the past nine games, including a 5-10 night at Wake Forest. Over the past five games, she's 37-45 from the line (.822). Kelly leads the nation in attempts with 195 attempts (7.5 per game). In ACC play, she's at 8.4 per game.
• Prior to the win over Pitt last Thursday, the Tar Heels had lost four in a row for the first time since January of 2023. Three of the losses came on the road, two came to ranked teams and two came in overtime. Carolina has now won back-to-back games.
• UNC is 3-6 this season against ranked teams, with wins over Syracuse (then 25, now 17), Notre Dame (then 16, now 19) and Louisville (then 13, now 20) in January.
Four of the six losses were to teams now ranked in the top 10: No. 1 South Carolina (UNC is one of three teams to play the Gamecocks within single digits), No. 6 NC State (then No. 5), No. 8 Virginia Tech (then No. 17) and No. 10 Kansas State (then 16). UNC fell to UConn (then 17, now 15) at the Mohegan Sun Resort in Uncasville, Conn., in December.
Stats Notes
• Maria Gakdeng is shooting .619 from the field, a percentage that would comfortably lead the ACC if she had the required five makes per game to be ranked. (She has 3.8 per game.)
With a career FG percentage of 59.0, Gakdeng ranks 18th among all active DI players.
• Against No. 25 Syracuse on Jan. 4, Alyssa Ustby became the first player in Division I history to register 15 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists against an AP-ranked opponent. (ESPN Stats and Info).
• Against Virginia on Jan. 14, Deja Kelly became the first Tar Heel since at least 2009, the furthest back the stats track, with 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and only 1 turnover. (HerHoopStats)
Milestone Watch
• Deja Kelly passed the 1,500 career points mark in the Dec. 19 win over Oklahoma, becoming the 25th Tar Heel to reach that milestone. She currently has 1,758 career points, 14th in program history and 15 behind WNBA champion Camille Little, who sits in 13th.
• Lexi Donarski passed the 1,500-career-points mark against Pitt. She has scored 268 of her current 1,519 points in a Carolina uniform.
• After Anya Poole played in her 100th career game on Jan. 14 vs. Virginia, the Tar Heels have four players on the roster with 100 or more career games. (Deja Kelly, Lexi Donarski, Alyssa Ustby and Poole.)
• Alyssa Ustby's next assist will be her 100th of the season. At 99, she already has 25 more than she's totaled in any previous season as a Tar Heel. (She finished with 74 in 2022, her sophomore year.)
Click here for tickets. Thursday's game is one of just two remaining at home this season and the only one with tickets still available.
Students and staff get in free with a UNC One Card.
It's Throwback Thursday and the first 500 students at the game will get free retro t-shirts.
Carolina comes into the game at 17-9 (9-5 ACC) after wins over Pitt and Wake Forest last week. NC State is 23-3 (11-3) following an overtime win over Georgia Tech on Sunday.
After Thursday's action, the Tar Heels head for Blacksburg, Va., and a Sunday matchup with the No. 8 Hokies.
Heels vs. Pack
UNC and NC State are meeting for the 119th time in a rivalry that dates back to the 1974-75 season, Carolina's first as a varsity program under the umbrella of the Department of Athletics.
NC State leads the series 64-54 after winning this year's first meeting, 63-59 in Raleigh on Feb. 1. The teams split last season's matchups, with each team winning on its home court.
• In the most recent meeting, in Chapel Hill (Jan. 15, 2023), UNC won 56-47 in front of a sellout crowd at Carmichael. The No. 22 Tar Heels shot just 29.7 for the game but improved to 58.3 percent for the fourth quarter, when the home team outscored the visitors 25-15 to take the win.
• The teams have split their matchups in four of the past five seasons. (NC State won both in 21-22).
UNC Notes
• With UNC's guard ranks slimmed by injury, Lexi Donarski ranks second (37.7) and Deja Kelly third (36.7) in the ACC in minutes played per conference game. Kelly has played every second in seven of the past nine games.
• Alyssa Ustby scored a career-best 25 points at Wake Forest, giving UNC 20-point games by three different players over the past three games. Against Pitt it was Donarski with 20, and against Duke it was Deja Kelly with 20.
• Deja Kelly has been to the foul line 10 or more times in seven of the past nine games, including a 5-10 night at Wake Forest. Over the past five games, she's 37-45 from the line (.822). Kelly leads the nation in attempts with 195 attempts (7.5 per game). In ACC play, she's at 8.4 per game.
• Prior to the win over Pitt last Thursday, the Tar Heels had lost four in a row for the first time since January of 2023. Three of the losses came on the road, two came to ranked teams and two came in overtime. Carolina has now won back-to-back games.
• UNC is 3-6 this season against ranked teams, with wins over Syracuse (then 25, now 17), Notre Dame (then 16, now 19) and Louisville (then 13, now 20) in January.
Four of the six losses were to teams now ranked in the top 10: No. 1 South Carolina (UNC is one of three teams to play the Gamecocks within single digits), No. 6 NC State (then No. 5), No. 8 Virginia Tech (then No. 17) and No. 10 Kansas State (then 16). UNC fell to UConn (then 17, now 15) at the Mohegan Sun Resort in Uncasville, Conn., in December.
Stats Notes
• Maria Gakdeng is shooting .619 from the field, a percentage that would comfortably lead the ACC if she had the required five makes per game to be ranked. (She has 3.8 per game.)
With a career FG percentage of 59.0, Gakdeng ranks 18th among all active DI players.
• Against No. 25 Syracuse on Jan. 4, Alyssa Ustby became the first player in Division I history to register 15 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists against an AP-ranked opponent. (ESPN Stats and Info).
• Against Virginia on Jan. 14, Deja Kelly became the first Tar Heel since at least 2009, the furthest back the stats track, with 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and only 1 turnover. (HerHoopStats)
Milestone Watch
• Deja Kelly passed the 1,500 career points mark in the Dec. 19 win over Oklahoma, becoming the 25th Tar Heel to reach that milestone. She currently has 1,758 career points, 14th in program history and 15 behind WNBA champion Camille Little, who sits in 13th.
• Lexi Donarski passed the 1,500-career-points mark against Pitt. She has scored 268 of her current 1,519 points in a Carolina uniform.
• After Anya Poole played in her 100th career game on Jan. 14 vs. Virginia, the Tar Heels have four players on the roster with 100 or more career games. (Deja Kelly, Lexi Donarski, Alyssa Ustby and Poole.)
• Alyssa Ustby's next assist will be her 100th of the season. At 99, she already has 25 more than she's totaled in any previous season as a Tar Heel. (She finished with 74 in 2022, her sophomore year.)
Players Mentioned
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