UNC junior Ustby national player of week

By R.L. Bynum

On a week when many players might have had a tough time playing many minutes, Carolina wing Alyssa Ustby played well and helped the Tar Heels win two games.

That has earned her the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Ann Myers Drysdale National Player of the Week honor, announced Tuesday.

Ustby, a 6-1 junior from Rochester, Minn., helped the Tar Heels gain their first five-game ACC winning streak under fourth-year coach Courtney Banghart, averaging 16.5 points and shooting 15 of 21 from the floor (71.4%) in home wins over then-No. 13 Duke — the co-leader of the ACC — and Georgia Tech.

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In the Duke game, she played 39 minutes after being on an IV that morning because of an illness.

Ustby, who has six double-doubles, leads the Tar Heels in rebounding (9.0 per game, fifth in the ACC), steals (33, fourth in the ACC) and blocks (25, ninth in the ACC), is second on the team in scoring (13.8 points per game, 10th in the ACC) and shooting (52.4%, third in the ACC) and is third in assists (59).

The No. 15 Tar Heels (14–5, 5–3) visit Pittsburgh at 6 p.m. Thursday (ESPN3) and Clemson at 4 p.m. Sunday (ACC Network).

Team	League	Overall
No. 9 Duke	10–2	20–3
No. 10 Notre Dame	9–3	18–4
No. 19 Florida State	9–3	20–5
No. 11 Virginia Tech	9–4	19–4
No. 14 North Carolina	8–4	17–6
Louisville	8–4	17–8
Miami	8–4	15–8
No. 22 N.C. State	6–6	16–7
Syracuse	6–7	15–9
Wake Forest	5–8	14–10
Boston College	4–9	14–12
Clemson	4–9	13–12
Georgia Tech	3–9	12–11
Virginia	3–10	14–10
Pittsburgh	1–11	8–15

Monday’s result
No. 11 Virginia Tech 73, No. 22 N.C. State 61
Thursday’s games
Pittsburgh at No. 10 Notre Dame, 6 p.m., ACCN
No. 19 Florida State at Miami, 6 p.m., RSNs
No. 14 North Carolina at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ESPN3
No. 9 Duke at Boston College, 7 p.m., ESPN3
Louisville at Virginia, 7 p.m., ESPN3
No. 22 N.C. State at Wake Forest, 8 p.m., ACCN
Georgia Tech at Clemson, 8 p.m., RSNs
Sunday’s games
Boston College at No. 14 North Carolina, noon, ACCN
No. 22 N.C. State at Virginia, noon, RSNs
Miami at No. 9 Duke, 2 p.m., RSNs
Pittsburgh at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ESPN3
Clemson at Louisville, 2 p.m., ESPN3
Florida State at No. 11 Virginia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN
Syracuse at No. 10 Notre Dame, 4 p.m., ACCN

Date	Month/day	Time/score	Opponent/event (current ranking)	Location	TV/record
	November
9	Wednesday	W, 91–59	Jackson State	Home	1–0
12	Saturday	W, 75–48	TCU	Home	2–0
16	Wednesday	W, 93–25	South Carolina State	Home	3–0
20	Sunday	W, 76–65	James Madison	Harrisonburg, Va.	4–0
			*Phil Knight Invitational*
24	Thursday	W, 85–79	Oregon	Portland	5–0
27	Sunday	W, 73–64	No. 21 Iowa State	Portland	6–0
	December		*ACC/Big Ten Challenge*
1	Thursday	L, 87–63	No. 2Indiana	Bloomington, Ind.	6–1
7	Wednesday	W, 64–42	UNCW	Home	7–1
11	Sunday	W, 99–67	Wofford	Home	8–1
16	Friday	W, 89–47	USC Upstate	Home	9–1
			*Jumpman Invitational*
20	Tuesday	L, 76–68	No. 12 Michigan	Charlotte	9–2
			ACC season begins
29	Thursday	L, 78–71	No. 19 Florida State	Home	9–3, 0–1 ACC
	January
1	Sunday	L, 68–65	No. 11 Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Va.	9–4, 0–2 ACC
5	Thursday	L, 62–58	Miami	Coral Gables, Fla.	9–5, 0–3 ACC
8	Sunday	W, 60–50	No. 10 Notre Dame	Home	10–5, 1–3 ACC
12	Thursday	W, 70–59	Virginia	Charlottesville, Va.	11–5, 2–3 ACC
15	Sunday	W, 56–47	No. 22 N.C. State	Home	12–5, 3–3 ACC
19	Thursday	W, 61–56	No. 9 Duke	Home	13–5, 4–3 ACC
22	Sunday	W, 70–57	Georgia Tech	Home	14–5, 5–3 ACC
26	Thursday	W, 72–57	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	15–5, 6–3 ACC
29	Sunday	W, 69–58	Clemson	Clemson	16–5, 7–3 ACC
	February
2	Thursday	W, 73–62	Virginia	Home	17–5, 8–3 ACC
5	Sunday	L, 62–55	Louisville	Louisville	17–6, 8–4 ACC
9	Thursday	7 p.m.	Syracuse	Syracuse	ACCNX (ESPN3)
12	Sunday	Noon	Boston College	Home	ACCNX (ESPN3)
16	Thursday	8 p.m.	No. 22 N.C. State	Raleigh	ACCN
19	Sunday	4 p.m.	Wake Forest	Home	ACCN
23	Thursday	8 p.m.	No. 11 Virginia Tech	Home	RSNs
26	Sunday	Noon	No. 9 Duke	Durham	RSNs
	March
			*ACC Tournament*
1–5	Wednesday–Sunday	TBA	TBA	Greensboro	ACCN Wed.-Sat.; final on ESPN or ESPN2

You can buy tickets to home games here. ACCN means the game airs on ACC Network. ACCNX means that the game is only streaming on ACC Network Extra (ESPN3.) RSNs means the game airs on regional sports networks (in many cases, Bally Sports but also MASN, NESN and Yes Network.)

Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications