By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina doesn’t deserve to be ranked in the AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll?
That was the news early in the week when the Tar Heels fell out of the poll after 33 weeks. But Alyssa Ustby had much bigger news Thursday, as they knocked off No. 25 Syracuse 75–51 in a physical battle at Carmichael Arena for their first win over a ranked team this season.
Ustby produced the first triple-double in Carolina program history with 16 points, a season-high 16 rebounds, and a career-high 10 assists, the last being the highest total on the team this season. Ustby, who has six double-doubles this season, earned history on a free throw for her 10th point with 1:17 left in the third quarter.
She first realized she was close when fans started yelling at her that she was a point away.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” said Ustby, who got several of her assists on some of Maria Gakdeng’s 22 points, which matched her season high and, of course, tried to divert the credit.
“But I’m just really glad to be surrounded by so many teammates that encouraged me and that celebrate me, and Maria made my job so easy,” Ustby said.
Ustby is the first player in women’s college basketball history to get a triple-double with totals of at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists against a ranked team.
Carolina coach Courtney Banghart was beaming as she talked about Ustby’s historic night.
“It’s not just a triple-double; she shattered it,” said Banghart of Ustby, who put up a game-high 20.3 game score. “There are so many jerseys of really, really good players that played in this program. They’re the reason I’m here because I wanted to try to bring that back.
“To know that she’s the only one who’s gotten a triple-double here with who she is, how she plays, how she plays hard, and she’s selfless? She should make all you Tar Heel fans really proud because she does things the right way,” Banghart said.
Lexi Donarski added 14 points and four 3-pointers for UNC (10–4, 2–0), which dealt the Orange (11–2, 1–1) only its second loss of the season.
While Ustby was on triple-double watch in the second quarter, that was the least of her concerns.
“I wasn’t really focused on it,” Ustby said, noting that only being ahead by two at halftime was a concern. “We want to be a Top 25 team, and that’s the spot that we want to be in. We want to be ranked, and we know that we deserve to be ranked, so we had to prove it. So, that was not in my mind at all. I was just trying to focus on bringing whatever the game called for.”
Banghart and all the players were stunned to fall out of the poll after being No. 24 the week before.
“I told the team that to be ranked, you have to beat ranked teams,” Banghart said. “There’s no other way around it. Our colors are really pretty; it doesn’t get you ranked.”
Syracuse should probably blame the AP voters for providing UNC with extra motivation.
“It was kind of a shock, coming off a Clemson win and … ‘what?’ That’s just another chip on our shoulder,” Ustby said, “and we’re gonna carry that with us, and tonight was a great show of that.”
Ustby said that she doesn’t think she ever had 10 assists during her high school career. But, then again, she didn’t have Gakdeng as a target.
“Maria is giving those low-post defenders an absolute terrible time down there,” Ustby said. “They were not having fun, I can tell you that. Maria is just bullying them down there, and then our shooters are getting shot-ready, and they’re just ready to go. My job was super easy. The harder job was on Maria and a couple of other shooters.”
Fact check: Triple-doubles are extremely hard.
Gakdeng did catch a lot of passes right around the basket, and she credited her work in practice with Assistant Coach Adrian Walters.
Gakdeng said she worked on “positioning in the paint and just finishing over my left and right shoulder. Being able to do that. Working on that with my position coach has helped me a lot all around.”
The margin of victory equaled the largest in Banghart’s tenure at UNC, matching the margin in a 92–68 victory over Syracuse on Dec. 17, 2020.
Carolina dealt with a zone for the second consecutive game, and fared well against Syracuse’s scheme, which varied from a 3–2 to a 2–3 to a 1–3–1, and was very different from Clemson’s zone.
Banghart talked to her team about how to deal with the zone at halftime, and it worked as UNC outscored Syracuse 25–6 in the third quarter.
“We talked about using the corner, keeping your dribble, if you are two-on-one in the backside, you can get the ball on the wing area,” Banghart said. “I think there’s just a lot of trust. They see it, they do it.”
Syracuse coach Felisha Legette-Jack said it was her team’s most physical game this season.
“We made the wrong decision on what defense to play,” Legette-Jack said. “That starts with me. I have to do better.”
You must contain graduate 5–5 guard Dyaisha Fair to beat Syracuse. With another graduate guard, Donarski, guarding her most of the game (with Indya Nivar also guarding her), the shots didn’t come easily. Fair finished with 17 points but needed 22 shots to do it.
“We wanted to make sure she sees two different looks,” Banghart said. “I wouldn’t want Lexi or India anywhere near me if I had the basketball. They probably spent about equal time on her, by design. And they were great. She had to take a million shots, but, more importantly, she didn’t make make her teammates better, and that’s what she’s really good at.”
On the same possession that Paulina Paris missed two free-throw attempts, her first misses of the season, Ustby got the rebound and Paris fired in a 3-pointer during a 12–4 run to put UNC up eight points. The Heels took a 19–14 lead into the second quarter.
A Donarski 3-pointer in the first two minutes of the second quarter pushed the lead to 10, and UNC led by nine on an Ustby free throw with 2:30 left. But Syracuse scored the last seven points of the first half as Fair’s 3-pointer with 22 seconds left slicing UNC’s halftime lead to 32–30, with Ustby already having nine assists and six rebounds.
Deja Kelly (seven points, four assists) missed her first seven shots before hitting a layup in the first minute of the second half, but then scored four in an 8–2 run and UNC pushed the lead back to eight. After a Fair jumper, UNC scored 13 straight points, taking a 17-point lead on an Ustby layup with 3:43 remaining. Carolina scored the last six third-quarter points to take a 57–36 lead into the fourth quarter.
Ustby’s last points, on a layup with 5:15 left, ballooned the lead to 28.
NOTES — Carolina plays its first game on an opponent’s home court this season at 5 p.m. Sunday when the Tar Heels visit No. 16 Notre Dame. The Irish (10–2, 1–1) won Thursday at Pittsburgh 71–66. It will be Carolina’s latest first true road game since playing at Duke on Jan. 19, 1994, during the Tar Heels’ national championship season. … Freshman guard Reniya Kelly played in her first game since suffering a concussion in the second quarter of the Dec. 10 loss to UConn after missing the previous three games. … Redshirt sophomore Kayla McPherson, who is dealing with a knee injury and used crutches to get around on Thursday, missed her sixth consecutive game. … Ustby’s previous best assist total was six, which she has colleced five times, the last against Western Carolina this season on Dec. 15. … Ustby’s previous rebounding high was 13 on Dec. 19 against Oklahoma. … It was the fifth consecutive game in the series that the home team has won, with Syracuse leading the all-time series 9–7. … It was Carolina’s first win over a ranked team in four tries after after a 63–56 Nov. 25 loss to No. 11 Kansas State in Estero, Fla., a 65–58 loss Nov. 30 to No. 1 South Carolina and a 76–64 defeat against No. 12 UConn on Dec. 10. … UNC’s last previous win over a ranked team was 45–41 at No. 11 Duke last season on Feb. 26. … Banghart’s teams are 13–21 against ranked teams.
UNC 75, No. 25 Syracuse 51
UNC lineup combinations
| Score | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Segment score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starters | 10:00 | DK | Paris | Donarski | Ustby | Gakdeng | 16–13 |
| 16–13 | 3:02 | Donarski | NIvar | Key | Poole | 3–1 | |
| 19–14 | End 1 | Ustby | Gakdeng | 7–3 | |||
| 26–17 | 6:16 | Paris | 5–6 | ||||
| 31–23 | 4:12 | Paris | Donarski | 0–0 | |||
| 31–23 | 2:30 | DK | Paris | Donarski | 1–2 | ||
| 32–25 | 1:30 | RK | Key | 0–5 | |||
| 32–30 | Half | Paris | Gakdeng | 10–4 | |||
| 42–34 | 5:29 | Poole | 0–0 | ||||
| 42–34 | 5:17 | Donarski | Nivar | 14–2 | |||
| 56–36 | 0:17 | Poole | Gakdeng | 1–0 | |||
| 57–36 | 0:10 | RK | 0–0 | ||||
| 57–36 | End 3 | Ustby | 13–8 | ||||
| 70–44 | 5:20 | Poole | 2–5 | ||||
| 72–49 | 3:59 | RK | Paris | Donarski | 0–0 | ||
| 72–49 | 3:06 | Key | 0–0 | ||||
| 72–49 | 3:01 | Zelaya | 3–2 | ||||
| 75–51 | Final |
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 6 Louisville | 11–0 | 21–3 | 8 |
| No. 17 Duke | 11–0 | 16–6 | 14 |
| Syracuse | 8–3 | 18–4 | 39 |
| Virginia Tech | 8–3 | 18–5 | 42 |
| N.C. State | 8–3 | 15–7 | 28 |
| No. 25 North Carolina | 7–3 | 18–5 | 21 |
| Virginia | 7–4 | 15–7 | 38 |
| Clemson | 7–4 | 16–7 | 37 |
| Notre Dame | 6–5 | 14–8 | 31 |
| Georgia Tech | 5–6 | 10–13 | 93 |
| Stanford | 4–5 | 15–7 | 36 |
| California | 4–6 | 13–10 | 53 |
| Miami | 4–7 | 12–10 | 48 |
| Florida State | 2–8 | 7–15 | 110 |
| Wake Forest | 2–9 | 12–11 | 122 |
| SMU | 1–9 | 8–14 | 179 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–9 | 8–15 | 260 |
| Boston College | 0–11 | 4–20 | 247 |
* — Through Monday games
Sunday’s results
No. 17 Duke 80, Wake Forest 44
No. 6 Louisville 71, California 59
Virginia Tech 76, Virginia 64
Syracuse 65, Miami 60
Georgia Tech 70, Boston College 60
Notre Dame 78, Stanford 66
Clemson 77, Florida State 58
Monday’s game
No. 25 North Carolina 61, N.C. State 59
Thursday’s games
Syracuse at Boston College, 6 p.m.
Stanford at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Clemson at No. 25 North Carolina, 6 p.m., ACC Network
No. 17 Duke at No. 6 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN
Virginia Tech at Notre Dame, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Miami at Virginia, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
California at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Wake Forest at SMU, 7:30, ACCN Extra
Florida State at N.C. State, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Sunday’s games
No. 6 Louisville at Syracuse, noon, ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Virginia Tech, noon, ACC Network
California at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. ACCN Extra
No. 25 North Carolina at Wake Forest, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at No. 17 Duke, 2 p.m. The CW
Notre Dame at Virginia, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Miami at Florida State, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stanford at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Boston College at Clemson, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
UNC season statistics
| Date | Day/month | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 3 South Carolina in Atlanta | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 90–42 | vs. N.C. Central | 1–0 |
| 6 | Thursday | W, 71–37 | vs. Elon | 2–0 |
| WBCA Challenge Las Vegas | ||||
| 13 | Thursday | L, 78–60 | vs. No. 2 UCLA | 2–1 |
| 15 | Saturday | W, 82–68 | vs. Fairfield | 3–1 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 20 | Thursday | W, 85–50 | at N.C. A&T | 4–1 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 94–48 | vs. UNCG | 5–1 |
| Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico | ||||
| 27 | Thursday | W, 83–48 | vs. South Dakota St. | 6–1 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 85–73 | vs. Kansas State | 7–1 |
| 29 | Saturday | W, 80–63 | vs. Columbia | 8–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Thursday | W, 79–64 | at No. 4 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 78 Louisville | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 84–34 | vs. UNCW | 10–3 |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 93–74 | vs. Charleston Southern | 11–3 |
| 29 | Monday | W, 90–38 | at Boston College | 12–3, 1–1 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | W, 71–55 | vs. California | 13–3, 2–1 |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 77–71, OT | vs. Stanford | 13–4, 2–2 |
| 11 | Sunday | L, 73–50 | at Notre Dame | 13–5, 2–3 |
| 15 | Thursday | W, 73–62 | vs. Miami | 14–5, 3–3 |
| 18 | Sunday | W, 82–55 | at Florida State | 15–5, 4–3 |
| 22 | Thursday | W, 54–46 | at Georgia Tech | 16–5, 5–3 |
| 25 | Sunday | W, 77–71, OT | vs. Syracuse | 17–5, 6–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 61–59 | at N.C. State | 18–5, 7–3 |
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ACCN |
| 8 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 12 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCN |
| 15 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at No. 20 Duke | ABC |
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | ACCN |
| 22 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Pittsburgh | ACCN |
| 26 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia | ACCN Extra |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | Noon | vs. No. 20 Duke | ESPN |
| ACC tournament | ||||
| 4–8 | Wed.-Sun | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | ||
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 20–24 | Fri.-Mon. | First, second rounds | ||
| 27–30 | Fri.-Mon. | Regionals Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif. | ||
| April | ||||
| 3, 5 | Fri., Sun | Final Four Phoenix |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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