By R.L. Bynum

UNC coach Courtney Banghart said after the No. 22 Tar Heels’ win Sunday over Wake Forest that Alyssa Ustby was “day to day, even minute to minute, maybe,” suggesting that the junior wing was nearing a return.

Ustby posted a powerful suggestion on Instagram on Monday night —  a photo of her in uniform and the words “tell a friend to tell a friend …” Officially, she still is listed as day-to-day, but her post seems to indicate that she will play this week.

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A post shared by Alyssa Ustby (@alyssa_ustby)

Carolina (19–8, 10–6 ACC) enters a big week, facing No. 9 Virginia Tech (22–4, 12–4) at home on senior night Thursday at 8 o’clock (regional sports networks) and visiting No. 11 and co-ACC leader Duke (23–4, 13–3) at noon Sunday (regional sports networks). Two victories would put the Tar Heels in good shape to earn at least a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, which would mean that they would host games in the first two rounds at Carmichael Arena.

UNC played well against Wake Forest without Ustby, who has been out with a lower-body injury, but her addition will be a huge boost for the Tar Heels, who have also been without fifth-year guard Eva Hodgson (upper-body injury) for the last eight games.

“Again, there’s going to be a bit of a disruption because even though it’s an addition of a kid we’re used to, that’s another shift for these guys,” Banghart said after the Wake Forest game. “It’s knowing that what Alyssa brings is really consistent. We know what we already get from her. And these guys have enough experience to play through it.”

Ustby only played two games with redshirt freshman Kayla McPherson before getting hurt. In her absence, junior Alexandra Zelaya has played 60 minutes in the last three games after playing 176 in the previous 23. Teonni Key has played double-digit minutes in five of the last six games, including 19 against Boston College.

“It gives us more depth, gives these guys more of a reason to give their all,” Banghart said.

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Without Ustby’s rebounding clout, it hasn’t always been easy.

“Our rebounding had better be better with her back,” Banghart said. “Honestly, we got a little lazy. I think we were like. ‘well, Alyssa gets them anyway.’ I think our rebounding is much better now. When she’s back, she’s still gonna try to get them all. But these guys are gonna take care of their matchup better.”

UNC is 2–3 in the five games that Ustby has missed, winning home games against Boston College (73–55) and the Deacons (71–58). The Heels have lost all three road games without her, though, against Louisville (62–55), Syracuse (75–67) and N.C. State (77–66 in overtime).

Ustby leads the team in rebounding at 8.9 per game and, despite missing five games, still has 37 more rebounds than any of her teammates. She averages 13.6 points per game while shooting 52.4% from the floor with 53 assists, 28 blocks and 44 steals in 22 games.

On Tuesday, Carolina officially announced that redshirt senior guard Ariel Young is out for the season with a knee injury, meaning that her college career is over. She played 12 minutes over three games after missing all of last season with a knee injury.

“Ariel has worked so hard to get back on the court and sadly it just isn’t going to happen,” Banghart said. “When you’ve played basketball your whole life it’s so difficult to see it end and, as a coach, it’s excruciating to watch that happen for one of your players. Ariel will absolutely remain just as big a part of our team, and she is adored as she settles into this new role.”

Young, who began her career at Michigan before transferring to Carolina in January 2020, will be honored on senior night Thursday along with Malu Tshitenge and Hodgson.

UNC statistics

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ACC standings

Team	League	Overall	NET*	WAB*
No. 13 Duke	16–2	21–8	10	13
No. 12 Louisville	15–3	25–6	13	10
No. 16 North Carolina	14–4	25–6	19	14
N.C. State	13–5	20–9	23	27
Syracuse	12–6	22–7	40	31
Virginia Tech	12–6	22–8	41	34
Notre Dame	12–6	20–9	24	23
Clemson	11–7	20–10	44	40
Virginia	11–7	19–10	36	49
California	9–9	18–13	53	60
Stanford	8–10	19–12	42	56
Miami	8–10	16–13	58	65
Georgia Tech	7–10	12–17	76	109
Florida State	5–13	10–20	107	138
Wake Forest	4–14	14–16	121	134
SMU	2–16	9–21	220	209
Pittsburgh	1–17	8–23	262	238
Boston College	1–17	5–26	247	283

* — Through Sunday games
Thursday’s results
No. 16 North Carolina 82, Virginia 70
No. 12 Louisville 69, Georgia Tech 50
Notre Dame 72, Syracuse 62
Miami 79, Pittsburgh 58
N.C. State 65, Wake Forest 58
No. 13 Duke 80, Florida State 52
Stanford 87, SMU 57
Clemson 70, California 63
Sunday’s results
No. 16 North Carolina 74, No. 13 Duke 69
Virginia Tech 83, Virginia 82
Georgia Tech 79, Miami 49
N.C. State 93, Pittsburgh 43
Stanford 85, Clemson 50
Syracuse 90, Boston College 65
Notre Dame 65, No. 12 Louisville 62
Florida State 77, Wake Forest 74, OT
California 78, SMU 34
End of regular season
ACC tournament
Gas South Arena
Duluth, Ga.
March 4–8

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Date	Month/day	Time/score	Opponent/event (current ranking)	Location	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. 17 Iowa State	Portland	6–0
	December		ACC/Big Ten Challenge
1	Thursday	L, 87–63	No. 2 Indiana	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. 18 Michigan	Charlotte	9–2
			ACC season begins
29	Thursday	L, 78–71	Florida State	Home	9–3, 0–1 ACC
	January
1	Sunday	L, 68–65	No. 4 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	N.C. State	Home	12–5, 3–3 ACC
19	Thursday	W, 61–56	No. 13 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	L, 75–67	Syracuse	Syracuse	17–7, 8–5 ACC
12	Sunday	W, 73–55	Boston College	Home	18–7, 9–5 ACC
16	Thursday	L, 77–66, OT	N.C. State	Raleigh	18–8, 9–6 ACC
19	Sunday	W, 71–58	Wake Forest	Home	19–8, 10–6 ACC
23	Thursday	L, 61–59	No. 4 Virginia Tech	Home	19–9, 10–7 ACC
26	Sunday	W, 45–41	No. 13 Duke	Durham	20–9, 10–8 ACC
	March		ACC Tournament
2	Thursday	W, 68–58	Clemson	Greensboro	21–9
3	Friday	L, 44–40	No. 13 Duke	Greensboro	21–10
			NCAA tournament
18	Saturday	W, 61–59	St. John’s	Columbus, Ohio	22–10
20	Monday	L, 71–69	No. 12 Ohio State	Columbus, Ohio	22–11

Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications