By R.L. Bynum
Alyssa Ustby did it all for No. 15 North Carolina to help the Tar Heels complete a huge 2–0 week in California.
Ustby scored 16 points, tied her career-high with four 3-pointers and made a crucial defensive play at the end to help UNC hold on for a 69–67 victory Sunday at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif., after Stanford erased a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit.
“These guys found a way. We didn’t play great, but this was a big moment for us because we showed a lot of collective toughness when things weren’t going our way. The free-throw disparity was confusing,” said UNC coach Courtney Banghart, whose team was 2 of 4 from the free-throw line (both numbers season-lows) while Stanford made 18 of 19 attempts.
North Carolina (20–4, 8–3 ACC) became the first team in the two-coast ACC to go 2–0 on a trip to California — men or women — by winning at Cal and Stanford. This is the fastest UNC team to 20 wins since the 2013–14 team did it in 26 games, finished 27–10 and made the Elite 8. UNC, which equaled last season’s win total, is the first ACC team to win 20 games this season.
“There is some mental and physical fatigue that this trip requires,” Banghart said of the rough fourth quarter when UNC went scoreless for nearly five minutes. “It’s not because you’re playing two games against very good teams; it’s everything else. These kids are in the weight room in the hotel, and they’re taking turns with our strength coach and just totally out of routine. So, I think these guys played a little bit tired, and Stanford’s a good team.”
Trailing by two, Stanford set up Nunu Agara on an isolation play. She drove to the basket but couldn’t score in the final seconds against tough defense from Ustby, who pulled down the huge rebound.
Ustby knew that play was coming.
“I was 100% up for the challenge. I already guarded her in a couple of iso drives,” said Ustby, who committed a foul on one of those and gave up a basket on another. “I felt like I had the most experience on her drives in that moment to make an in-game stop, and then we came up with the rebound, which is crucial.”
Last season and for some of this season, defenders backed off Ustby when she got the ball on the perimeter, knowing she probably wouldn’t take it and likely wouldn’t make it if she did.
That’s changed dramatically, as she is 7 of 9 from outside the perimeter in the last three games (including 4 of 5 Sunday) after scoring only three 3-pointers all of last season.
“I know that being a 3-point threat is really important for our team because I need to create space for my teammates,” said Ustby, whose only other game with four 3-pointers was her freshman season on Feb. 7, 2021, in a 76–69 home win over N.C. State. “It’s almost not fair to be a perimeter player and not be able to shoot 3s because then my defender gets to help everybody else and almost double-team the ball.
“So that’s been a really focus for me for a while, and the biggest thing probably has been getting the confidence to be able to step into that role,” she said. “And coach keeps telling us to play aggressive and to not be timid on offense. And so I just felt hot, and just continued to keep the courage up to keep shooting.”
With Stanford (11–10, 3–7) face-guarding Lexi Donarski on the perimeter, she showed how she had expanded her game by scoring on drives and mid-range jumpers to finish with 12 points without a 3-pointer. Playing all 40 minutes, Donarski held Elena Bosgana — who was averaging 12.6 points per game — to three points on 1 of 11 shooting.
“I feel like it’s been something that the coaches and I have been working on for a really long time, every week on a really consistent basis,” Donarski said. “But ultimately, it is about just taking what the defense gives you, and they were really up in me. They did not want me to get a three off. So just playing off of that, and playing with what the offense was giving us, it was mid-range pull-ups, and taking it in.”
Banghart praised Donarski for being a fifth-year player who still works to add to her game.
“She’s earned it,” Banghart said.” We need her. She knows that for us to be better, she needs to be better off the dribble.”
Center Maria Gakdeng got off to a terrific start with all 12 of her points in the first half but battled foul trouble and fouled out with 1:33 left in the game. It was her fifth consecutive game with at least three fouls. That forced freshman Blanca Thomas, who is still trying to find her rhythm on offense, to play 11 minutes.
“I haven’t been a part of a free-throw disparity quite so much, especially when I thought both teams were kind of playing at the rim and pretty physically,” Banghart said. “Fortunately, they were daring a couple of our guys to make threes, and that’s what we practice and put the work in, so we’re going to trust it.”
Kelly and Grace Townsend each pitched in 10 points, with Townsend dishing out a team-high four assists.
After Stanford scored the game’s first five points, Gakdeng scored four points in a 7–0 UNC run as UNC took control with an 11–1 run to finish the first quarter — with four each from Townsend and Donarski — to lead 20–12 after the opening period.
Donarski scored four points, the last two at the free-throw line, to push UNC’s lead to 10 with 7:41 left in the first half. After Stanford pulled within four, a Thomas follow-up shot ended a 2½-minute UNC scoring drought.
Kelly gave UNC a 39–32 halftime lead with a jumper and a 3-pointer in the last 45 seconds.
UNC opened the second half with a 9–2 run — including an Ustby 3-pointer — to expand the lead to 14 on a Donarski jumper with 7:41 left in the third quarter. Ustby’s third 3-pointer with 4½ minutes left pushed the lead to 15, and UNC took a 59–48 lead into the final quarter.
Stanford started the fourth quarter with a 14–3 run to tie it on a Kennedy Umeh three-point play with 3:52 left. Carolina couldn’t get anything going offensively during its long scoring drought before Kelly started a 7–0 run with a jumper and a 3-pointer, and a Donarski bucket put UNC up by seven with 2:10 left.
Agara, who led Stanford with 22 points (seven from the free-throw line) scored her fifth straight point on a layup with 37 seconds left to cut UNC’s lead to two with 38.8 seconds left. Donarski missed a driving shot with 8.2 seconds left before Ustby made her big defensive stop at the other end.
NOTES — Carolina gets a week off before playing at Clemson at 2 p.m. Sunday for their third consecutive road game. The Tigers (11–11, 4–7) lost 94–65 at Boston College on Sunday. … Guard Tray Crisp missed her seventh consecutive game with a lower-body injury. … The entire team attended UNC’s 195.775–197.250 gymnastics loss at Stanford on Friday night, leading the “Tar” … “Heels” chants. … It was only UNC’s second win over Stanford in five meetings, but the second in a row after UNC won the last meeting on Nov. 28, 2015, in Hawaii 70–54. … UNC was 9 of 17 from 3-point range, marking the 10th time this season that the Tar Heels have scored at least nine 3s.
No. 15 UNC 69, Stanford 67
| 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
| Date | Day/month | Scores | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 4 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. 3 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 13 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 No. 22 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 | W, 53–44 | vs. Clemson | 19–5, 8–3 |
| 8 | Sunday | W, 84–56 | vs. Wake Forest | 20–5, 9–3 |
| 12 | Thursday | W, 94–42 | vs. SMU | 21–5, 10–3 |
| 15 | Sunday | L, 72–68 | at No. 8 Duke | 21–6, 10–4 |
| 19 | Thursday | W, 66–63, OT | at Virginia Tech | 22–6, 11–4 |
| 22 | Sunday | W, 78–50 | vs. Pittsburgh | 23–6, 12–4 |
| 26 | Thursday | W, 82–70 | at Virginia | 24–6, 13–4 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 72–69 | vs. No. 8 Duke | 25–6, 14–4 |
| ACC tournament | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | |||
| 6 | Friday | W, 85–68 | Quarterfinal vs. Va. Tech | 26–6 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 65–57 | Semifinal vs. No. 13 Louisville | 26–7 |
| NCAA tournament Fort Worth 1 Regional | ||||
| 21 | Friday | W, 82–51 | First round in Chapel Hill: vs. Western Illinois | 27–7 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 74–66 | Second round in Chapel Hill: No. 17 Maryland | 28–7 |
| 27 | Friday | L, 63–52 | Sweet 16 in Fort Worth, Texas: vs. No. 1 UConn | 28–8 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
