WBB Comeback Falls Short at BC, 78-74

Thursday, February 29

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

7 PM

North Carolina

18-11,10-7ACC

Boston College

12-18,4-13ACC

North Carolina

Boston College

Indya Nivar scored 13 second-half points and finished with 16 for the game. (Photo by Meg Kelly/BC Athletics)

February 29, 2024 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – North Carolina closed an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to three in the closing seconds of the game but couldn't pull out an Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball road win, falling 78-74 at Boston College Thursday night.

At Conte Forum, the Eagles celebrated Senior Night before the game and then came out hot, shooting to a 13-4 advantage in the first four minutes and holding the lead throughout. UNC's first four points came from junior Maria Gakdeng, who played her first two seasons at Boston College before transferring to Chapel Hill. She would finish with 16 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.

BC was up 55-44 heading into the fourth quarter then scored the first seven points of the period to lead by 18, 62-44, with 9:10 to play. The Eagles were still up by the same margin with 5:24 remaining, 70-52, before Carolina put together a run down the stretch to make the finish exciting. The Tar Heels went on a 17-3 run to close to four points at 73-69 with 2:01 to play,

Included in the run was UNC's most celebrated bucket of the night, the first career three-pointer by freshman Sydney Barker. Her bucket came with 4:01 to play on one of six assists on the night for senior Deja Kelly and made it an 11-point game, 70-59. Barker hit another jumper a minute later and finished with a career-high five points on the night.

After rallying to close the gap, UNC went cold down the stretch, making just one of its final seven shots.

Sophomore Indya Nivar came off the bench for 16 points, 13 of them after halftime, and nine rebounds. Graduate student Lexi Donarski scored 12, with six of them coming at the foul line, where she was perfect on the night. Free throw shooting was a bright spot with the Tar Heels hitting 17-21 for an 81-percent night.

Overall, Carolina shot 35.6 percent from the field, including a 19.2 percent (5-26) night from three, a low in ACC play.

Senior JoJo Lacey led BC with 23 points. Teya Sidberry and T'yana Todd scored 13 each and Dontavia Waggoner added 12 as the Eagles improved to 12-18 (4-13).

UNC (18-11, 10-7) has one more regular season game remaining, at home on Sunday against Duke. Carmichael Arena is sold out for the game, which tips off at 4 p.m.

Notes:
• Senior Deja Kelly scored her 1,800^th career point during the game, becoming the 11^th player in program history to reach that milestone. She finished with 1,805 points, tied for 10^th on UNC's career scoring list.
• UNC will honor seniors Deja Kelly, Anya Poole, Alyssa Ustby and Alexandra Zelaya following Sunday's game.