By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — That vexing pattern of No. 20 North Carolina building a big lead and giving most of it up nearly burned the Tar Heels on Thursday night.
But Deja Kelly made four free throws in the final 15.7 seconds after UNC blew a 13-point fourth-quarter lead before holding on for a 66–61 win, the Heels’ fourth in a row. But not before Miami sank five of its 12 3-pointers in the final quarter, and former Duke player Shayeann Day-Wilson led a fierce rally.
“People don’t come to roll over when they get down,” said UNC coach Courtney Banghart, pointing out that Miami (12–6, 2–5 ACC) has played a tough league schedule so far, is better than its record and should be an NCAA tournament team. “I don’t know if it’s as much what we’re doing as it is just really good teams. And that’s just kind of the way it goes.”
An Alyssa Ustby 3-point play pushed UNC’s lead to nine with 2:06 left. But six straight points from Day-Wilson, who finished with 18, cut it to three with 57 seconds left, and Lashae Dwyer’s steal and layup with 28 seconds sliced it to one.
After Kelly’s first two free throws put the lead at 3, UNC’s Indya Nivar drew a charging call on a drive by Miami’s Lazaria Spearman with five seconds left; then Kelly made two more free throws with three seconds left to put the game away and finish with a team-high 18 points.
The Tar Heels (15–5, 7–1) remain tied for the ACC lead with Syracuse (16–2, 7–1), and a half-game ahead of Louisville (17–3, 6–1), with wins against both teams in the only meetings of the season.
“We just kind of played not our best, a little slow offensively,” Banghart said. “Sign of a good team when you can find a way to win.”
Having Deja Kelly on your side sure helps.
She drew 11 fouls and was 8 of 10 from the free-throw line with a team-high three assists in addition to her clutch late shots.
“She’s got, I think, the best handle in college basketball,” Banghart said of Deja Kelly. “She can really handle the ball. When you’re trying to guard her, she can get into hips, she changes her pace, she changes her elevation, she goes low, high.
“She’s really hard to contain, and so you can decide to just play off her and then she gets into her range, and that’s not right either,” Banghart said. “So, I think people are trying to get the ball out of her hands, and when you do that, she can attack hips like the best of them.”
All five starters scored in double figures in a balanced attack, with Maria Gakdeng collecting 13 points (with five rebounds), Alyssa Ustby 12 (with 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and two steals for her 10th double-double of the season and 30th of her career), Lexi Donarski 12 (with two 3-pointers) and Reniya Kelly a season-high 10. The downside is that UNC only got one bench point.
Banghart looked unhappy and called a timeout after a Day-Wilson 3-pointer cut the lead to seven with 5:34 left.
“We weren’t switching high enough. Offensively, we were settling too much for a team that we didn’t need to settle,” Banghart said, explaining why she called a timeout.
Miami hadn’t played since its 73–59 win over No. 7 N.C. State the Thursday before and looked like the fresher team down the stretch.
“Our guys played a little tired, to be quite honest,” Banghart said. “And that’s not really how they are.”
Reniya Kelly has been improving her floor game and making better decisions with every passing game, hoping her jump shot would start falling. She checked that off with two early 3-pointers.
“Reniya is growing up right in front of our eyes; it’s a great comfort,” Banghart said. “She knows how to play the game. But she’s really learning how to play the way we want her to. She was huge tonight.”
She was a prolific scorer and piled up the 3-pointers, hitting six in one game, while winning three Alabama state titles in high school. But she made only three from outside the arc all season before hitting two against Miami.
“The work I’ve had over the past couple of weeks on my shot has been crazy,” she said. “The amount of trust the coaches have, the players have in me is crazy. It’s all paying off at the end, so I’m happy.”
She missed three games after suffering a concussion in the first half of the Dec. 10 loss to UConn and was slow to find her rhythm. Consider it found, which is crucial considering sophomore guard Paulina Paris (lower-body injury) missed her third consecutive game.
When she could have attempted an open 3-pointer during a key second-half run, she instead fed an open Gakdeng for a layup — another good decision.
Gakdeng has had trouble against physical teams in recent games but dealt with that better against the Hurricanes with productive results before fouling out in the final 10 seconds.
“I think being more physical than I have the last couple games and just making sure that I get position early,” said Gakdeng, explaining her effectiveness in the game. “I know that the way teams scout me is they want to push me out and they know that I’m most effective from the block. So, making sure I do my work early, finish through contact instead of fading away.”
Those two early Reniya Kelly 3-pointers and one from Donarski gave UNC a 12–3 lead in the first three minutes. Miami cut the lead to four before UNC scored the last 10 points of the first quarter, capped by a Deja Kelly 3-point play, to lead 22–8.
Miami took a timeout after Gakdeng layup off of a Nivar pass in transition capped a 7–0 run to shove the lead to 19. Three straight Hurricanes 3-pointers, the last from Day-Wilson, sliced the lead to eight before UNC took a 38–28 halftime lead.
Miami pulled within six early in the second half, but Carolina went on a 13–2 run, with Gakdeng scoring six. That pushed the lead to 17 midway through the third quarter but UNC only took a 52–39 lead into the final period.
NOTES — Carolina is on the road for the next two games, visiting Virginia (9–10, 1–7) at noon Sunday (The CW) and No. 7 N.C. State (17–2, 5–2) next Thursday at 8 p.m. (ACC Network). On Thursday, the Cavaliers lost at home to Pittsburgh 56–52 for the Panthers’ first league win, and the Wolfpack won 71–49 at Clemson … Day-Wilson scored 24 points and three 3-pointers last season on Jan. 19 in Carmichael for Duke in the Blue Devils’ 61–56 loss. … Deja Kelly was one of five USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Women’s National Players of the Week, along with Marshall’s Abby Beeman, UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Syracuse’s Dyaisha Fair and Ohio State’s Cotie McMahon. … Ustby was named to the Top 10 list for the Cheryl Miller Award, which goes to the nation’s top small forward. … UNC is classifying Paris as “day-to-day” with a lower-body injury that appears to be a leg issue. … Banghart wore a blue UNC jersey with “204” on the front and the back — the total of the jersey numbers of all her players added together. … UNC beat Miami for only the fourth time in the last 12 meetings but leads the all-time series 16–13.
No. 20 UNC 66, Miami 61
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 11 Virginia Tech | 14–4 | 23–6 |
| No. 10 N.C. State | 13–5 | 25–5 |
| No. 20 Syracuse | 13–5 | 23–6 |
| No. 14 Notre Dame | 13–5 | 23–6 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 12–6 | 23–8 |
| Florida State | 12–6 | 21–9 |
| Duke | 11–7 | 19–10 |
| North Carolina | 11–7 | 19–11 |
| Miami | 8–10 | 18–11 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–11 | 16–14 |
| Virginia | 7–11 | 15–14 |
| Boston College | 5–13 | 13–18 |
| Clemson | 5–13 | 12–18 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–16 | 8–23 |
| Wake Forest | 2–16 | 6–24 |
Sunday’s games
North Carolina 63, Duke 59
Boston College 84, Pittsburgh 58
No. 10 N.C. State 75, Wake Forest 57
No. 14 Notre Dame 74, No. 24 Louisville 58
Georgia Tech 71, Miami 66, OT
Florida State 82, Clemson 79
Virginia 80, No. 11 Virginia Tech 75
ACC tournament
Greensboro Coliseum
Wednesday-Sunday
UNC season statistics
| Date | Day/month | Score | Opponent/event (current rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November | ||||
| 8 | Wednesday | W, 102–49 | vs. Gardner-Webb | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 74–70 | vs. Davidson | 2–0 |
| 15 | Wednesday | W, 62–32 | vs. Hampton | 3–0 |
| 18 | Saturday | W, 68–39 | vs. Elon | 4–0 |
| Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla. | ||||
| 24 | Friday | W, 54–51 | Vermont | 5–0 |
| 25 | Saturday | L, 63–56 | No. 15 Kansas State | 5–1 |
| 26 | Sunday | L, 65–64 | Florida Gulf Coast | 5–2 |
| ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 65–58 | vs. No. 1 South Carolina | 5–3 |
| December | ||||
| 6 | Wednesday | W, 81–66 | vs. UNC Greensboro | 6–3 |
| Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase in Uncasville, Conn. | ||||
| 10 | Sunday | L, 76–64 | No. 10 Connecticut | 6–4 |
| ——————— | ||||
| 15 | Friday | W, 96–36 | vs. Western Carolina | 7–4 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 19 | Tuesday | W, 61–52 | No. 18 Oklahoma | 8–4 |
| ACC season | ||||
| 31 | Sunday | W, 82–76 | vs. Clemson | 9–4, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 4 | Thursday | W, 75–51 | vs. No. 22 Syracuse | 10–4, 2–0 ACC |
| 7 | Sunday | W, 61–57 | at No. 9 Notre Dame | 11–4, 3–0 ACC |
| 11 | Thursday | L, 70–62 | at Florida State | 11–5, 3–1 ACC |
| 14 | Sunday | W, 81–68 | vs. Virginia | 12–5, 4–1 ACC |
| 18 | Thursday | W, 73–68 | at Georgia Tech | 13–5, 5–1 ACC |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 79–68 | vs. No. 23 Louisville | 14–5, 6–1 ACC |
| 25 | Thursday | W, 66–61 | vs. Miami | 15–5, 7–1 ACC |
| 28 | Sunday | L, 81–66 | at Virginia | 15–6, 7–2 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | L, 63–59 | at No. 11 N.C. State | 15–7, 7–3 ACC |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 70–61, OT | vs. No. 13 Virginia Tech | 15–8, 7–4 ACC |
| 11 | Sunday | L, 68–60, OT | at Duke | 15–9, 7–5 ACC |
| 15 | Thursday | W, 75–62 | vs. Pittsburgh | 16–9, 8–5 ACC |
| 18 | Sunday | W, 58–50 | at Wake Forest | 17–9, 9–5 ACC |
| 22 | Thursday | W, 80–70 | vs. No. 11 N.C. State | 18–9, 10–5 ACC |
| 25 | Sunday | L, 74–62 | at No. 13 Virginia Tech | 18–10, 10–6 ACC |
| 29 | Thursday | L, 78–74 | at Boston College | 18–11, 10–7 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | W, 63–59 | vs. Duke | 19–11, 11–7 ACC |
| ACC tournament Greensboro Coliseum | ||||
| 7 | Thursday | L, 60–59 | Second round: vs. Miami | 19–12 |
| NCAA tournament Columbia, S.C. | ||||
| 22 | Friday | W, 59–56 | First round: Michigan State | 20–12 |
| 24 | Sunday | L, 88–41 | Second round: No. 1 South Carolina | 20–13 |
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics
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