By R.L. Bynum

GREENSBORO — Alyssa Ustby chest-bumped Maria Gakdeng and let out a loud, “Let’s go!” after converting an early inside second-half bucket on a three-point play.

It was the sort of play, and her defense, that No. 14 North Carolina had missed in the last four games. 

But the No. 5 seed needed plays like that and big games from Lexi Donarski and Indya Nivar to rally from a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit for a 78–71 victory over No. 12-seed Boston College in the second round of the ACC tournament Thursday at First Horizon Coliseum.

“Give a lot of credit to [Donarski and Nivar], especially Indya, who triggered a lot of an aggressive attack,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “Hard to win in March. Certainly glad we did. Glad we’re getting healthier and healthier.”

The win advanced UNC (26–6) to an 11 a.m. Friday quarterfinal (ESPN2) against No. 22-ranked and No. 4-seed Florida State (23–7), keeping the Tar Heels’ hopes alive of hosting first– and second-round NCAA tournament games.

Donarski, who scored 20 points and tied her season-high with five 3-pointers, said the game was starting to feel like Sunday’s 78–75 home loss to Virginia when UNC blew an eight-point fourth-quarter lead.

“I think it was just igniting the fire within each other,” Donarski said. “Refusing to accept that that was gonna happen again. I really feel like it came from within all of us, and just knowing that we’re better than this, and we’re not gonna accept anything but the best from each other and from ourselves.”

Coming off her best game of the season Sunday against Virginia, Nivar collected 14 points, a team-high five assists and five rebounds, and had some crucial plays on offense down the stretch.

“I’ve been putting in so much extra time on my finishes, on my drives, on my reads and stuff,” Nivar said, “and it’s finally showing and I think that’s what we needed to help the team win.”

It didn’t look good when UNC trailed by nine with 8:15 left, but the Tar Heels found a way with a 19–3 run.

“I think their backs were against the wall. This is a team that hasn’t been great against teams that, on paper, they’re better than over the last couple weeks,” Banghart said. “We knew what we needed to do defensively and then offensively. Just really implored them to find their way to get into hips, get outside hips, finish outside their body — really not settle.”

Defensively, Banghart extended the pressure to more of an off-centered zone. The Heels held BC to only one field goal in the last five minutes.

“I think probably Courtney did a really nice job of switching to the zone, and I think then our shots looked a little bit rushed,” Boston College coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said. “I think [Kaylah Ivey] did a great job getting us into our zone offenses, but it was just a different look than we had seen all game.”

It was quite the contrast to the Sunday collapse against Virginia.

“I think the courage of this group is that they played well tired,” Banghart said. “That takes courage. And it was really fitting [because] in the last [game], that was our shortcoming. We looked tired, we played tired, and we got quiet tired, and then fast forward less than a week and into the opposite, so they get all the credit.”

Ustby returned after missing the last four games with a right knee issue. She scored for the first time since Feb. 13 and finished with 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks while piling up the floor burns.

“Really great to have Alyssa back,” said Banghart, who got texts Wednesday night from Ustby saying she was ready to play. “Obviously, the heart of a winner. We’ve been patient with her recovery, and it paid off.”

As for guard Reniya Kelly (right knee), the driving force behind the Tar Heels’ offense, she missed her third consecutive game but was in uniform for the first time and Banghart said she would return “soon.”

“These kids want to play,’ Banghart said. “There’s an enormous amount of trust in our sport performance team. They also want to do something special in March. We’re asking these guys to do a little bit more so that she can get back and give her as much rest as possible. You’ll see her again. Reniya wouldn’t be warming up if she wasn’t going to play again.”

Ustby said she was “super-eager” to return to the lineup.

“I think this was the perfect time because I knew that I needed enough time to recover and to feel confident with things I do,” Ustby said, “because I’m a player who goes 100% in to everything, and I like to try to run through brick walls. I think I saw on the floor like five or six times today, and so I knew that’s the type of player I was, and so I needed to make sure that I was ready to take that force of my body.”

BC, which rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit to upset Syracuse 76–73 in Wednesday’s first round, wasn’t going to make it easy for UNC. 

Freshman Tatum Greene particularly ensured that was true. She was averaging 3.9 points entering the game but scored a season-high 18 points on four 3-pointers.

The Eagles (16–17) needed those points because Ustby did a good defensive job on guard Dontavia Waggoner. After Waggoner scored 32 points in BC’s 76–73 first-round victory Wednesday over Clemson, she was held to five points on 1-of-9 shooting.

“Her and I have been playing against each other for four years, so we have a really good sense of familiarity,” Ustby said. “She wasn’t always guarding me, but I always knew that I was going to be her defensive matchup. I just took away the things I knew she liked to do and make other people hurt us.”

Carolina scored the game’s first 11 points — four from Ustby — to take control early. BC didn’t score until Greene’s 3-pointer with 5:17 left in the first quarter. Three-pointers from Green and Kayla Ivey sliced UNC’s lead to two before Grace Townsend gave UNC an 18–14 advantage after one quarter.

Two Nivar layups sandwiched a Tray Crisp 3-pointer to push UNC’s lead to eight points midway through the second quarter and a Donarski 3 put the lead at nine with 3:01 left in the first half. Carolina led 36–30 at halftime.

After missing all seven 3-point attempts in the second quarter, BC made its first eight shots from outside the arc in the second half.

Nivar’s 3-pointer gave UNC a 10-point lead three minutes into the second half. But after Lanie Grant’s 3-pointer with 5:13 left put UNC up by eight, BC went on an 11–2 run to take a one-point lead, and it was tied after three quarters at 54 after Teya Sidberry’s 3-pointer with 10 seconds left.

Two 3-pointers by Ivey and one from Sidberry in the first two minutes of the final quarter as BC seized a nine-point lead and there was an extended timeout.

“We were just really talking about our urgency that we need to have on defense to make sure we take away the 3-point shot, and we needed to box out to make sure that we could secure some rebounds,” Ustby said. “And I thought we did a really, really great job about securing the boards, because Boston College thrives on offensive rebound, put-backs and offensive rebounds to kick out for three.”

It took UNC nearly three fourth-quarter minutes to score on an Ustby layup, but that started a 19–3 run to take a 73–66 advantage on Nivar’s driving three-point play, Maria Gakdeng’s transition layup and Donarski’s 3-pointer with 1:44 left.

BC scored one field goal in 7½ minutes before JaKayla Thompson’s layup with 37 seconds left cut UNC’s lead to four. After a Townsend turnover, Gakdeng rebounded a missed T’yana Todd 3-point attempt and Donarski split a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left.

Green missed a 3-point attempt with 11 seconds left and Donarski put the game away on two free throws with 8.3 seconds left.

NOTES — Florida State won the only regular-season meeting with Carolina. Ta’Niya Latson scored on a baseline drive at the buzzer as the Seminoles won 86–84 in Carmichael Arena on Jan. 26. … It was UNC’s first fourth-quarter comeback of at least nine points since beating Vermont 54–51 on Nov. 24, 2023, in the Gulf Coast Showcase. … Carolina is now 2–6 when giving up more than 67 points eight, the other win 79–95 on Feb. 23 at Louisville. UNC is 24–0 when giving up fewer than 67 points. … Freshman guard Jordan Zubich played for the first time since Jan. 23, 11 games ago, entering the game late in the first half and playing for less than two minutes. … UNC is 2–7 in the Greensboro Coliseum Complex under Banghart. … Carolina leads the series with Boston College 18–5 and swept two games this season, also winning at home 80–67 on Jan. 12. … UNC is in the quarterfinals for the third time in four seasons after losing 60–59 to Miami in the second-round last season. … The Tar Heels lost to Duke 66–61 in their last ACC tournament semifinal appearance in 2024. They last made the championship game in 2014, losing 66–61 to the Blue Devils. … UNC’s last ACC title was in 2008 when the Tar Heels beat Duke 86–73 in the final.

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No. 14 UNC 78, BC 71

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ACC tournament

First Horizon Coliseum | Greensboro
Wednesday’s first round
No. 12 Boston College 76, No. 13 Syracuse 73
No. 10 Virginia 64, No. 15 Pittsburgh 50
No. 14 Clemson 63, No. 11 Stanford 46
Thursday’s second round
No. 5 (No. 14 ranked) North Carolina 78, Boston College 71
No. 8 Georgia Tech 72, No. 9 Virginia Tech 57
No. 7 California 75, Virginia 58
No. 6 Louisville 70, Clemson 68, OT
Friday’s quarterfinals
North Carolina 60, No. 4 (No. 22 ranked) Florida State 56
No. 1 (No. 7 ranked) N.C. State 73, Georgia Tech 72
No. 2 (No. 6 ranked) Notre Dame 73, California 64
No. 3 (No. 11 ranked) Duke 61, Louisville 48
Saturday’s semifinals (ESPN2)
N.C. State 66, North Carolina 55
Notre Dame (26–4) vs. Duke (24–7), 2:30
Sunday’s championship
N.C. State (26–5) vs. Notre Dame-Duke winner, 1 p.m., ESPN

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Date	Day/month	Time/ score	Opponent/event (current rank)	TV/ record
	November
4	Monday	W, 83–53	vs. Charleston Southern	1–0
7	Thursday	W, 77–50	vs. UNCW	2–0
12	Tuesday	W, 66–47	at N.C. A&T	3–0
15	Friday	L, 69–58	vs. No. 3 UConn in Greensboro	3–1
			Battle 4 Atlantis Paradise Island, Bahamas
23	Saturday	W, 63–52	Ball State	4–1
24	Sunday	W, 53–36	Villanova	5–1
25	Monday	W, 69–39	Indiana	6–1
			———————————
29	Friday	W, 119–43	vs. N.C. Central	7–1
	December
			ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge
5	Thursday	W, 72–53	vs. No. 12 Kentucky	8–1
			———————————
8	Sunday	W, 72–46	vs. Coppin State	9–1
11	Wednesday	W, 80–56	vs. UNCG	10–1
15	Sunday	L, 82–76	vs. Georgia Tech	10–2, 0–1 ACC
			Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte
18	Wednesday	W, 77–57	vs. Florida	11–2
			———————————
21	Saturday	W, 90–47	vs. Norfolk State	12–2
			ACC season
29	Sunday	W, 69–60	at Miami	13–2, 1–1 ACC
	January
5	Sunday	L, 76–66	vs. No. 6 Notre Dame	13–3, 1–2
9	Thursday	W, 53–46, OT	vs. No. 11 Duke	14–3, 2–2
12	Sunday	W, 80–67	vs. Boston College	15–3, 3–2
16	Thursday	W, 64–33	at SMU	16–3, 4–2
19	Sunday	W, 75–58	at Pitt	17–3, 5–2
23	Thursday	W, 76–51	vs. Wake Forest	18–3, 6–2
26	Sunday	L, 86–84	vs. No. 22 Florida State	18–4, 6–3
30	Thursday	W, 65–52	at California	19–4, 7–3
	February
2	Sunday	W, 69–67	at Stanford	20–4, 8–3
9	Sunday	W, 53–51	at Clemson	21–4, 9–3
13	Thursday	W, 67–62	vs. Virginia Tech	22–4, 10–3
16	Sunday	W, 66–65	vs. No. 7 N.C. State	23–4, 11–3
20	Thursday	W, 68–58	at Syracuse	24–4, 12–3
23	Sunday	W, 79–75	at Louisville	25–4, 13–3
27	Thursday	L, 68–53	at No. 11 Duke	25–5, 13–4
	March
2	Sunday	L, 78–75	vs. Virginia	25–6, 13–5
			ACC tournament Greensboro
6	Thursday	W, 78–71	Third round: Boston College	26–6
7	Friday	W, 60–56	Quarterfinals: vs. No. 22 Florida State	27–6
8	Saturday	L, 66–55	Semifinals: vs. No. 7 N.C. State	27–7
			NCAA tournament
21–22	Fri.-Sat.		First round At campus sites
23–24	Sun.-Mon.		Second round At campus sites
28–29	Fri.-Sat.		Sweet 16 Spokane, Birmingham
30–31	Sun.-Mon.		Elite Eight Spokane, Birmingham
	April
4, 6	Fri., Sun.		Final Four Tampa, Fla.

Photos courtesy of the ACC