By R.L. Bynum
Alyssa Ustby had surgery on her left knee after getting hurt in mid-February and returned 14 days later.
Ustby disclosed the surgery during Wednesday’s “Holding Court with Courtney Banghart” radio show ahead of the 4:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPNU) NCAA tournament opener for No. 3-seed and No. 12-ranked UNC (27–7) at Carmichael Arena against No. 14-seed Oregon State (19–15).
After leaving the 66–65 home win Feb. 16 against N.C. State, Ustby missed the next four games before returning for the Tar Heels’ 78–71 win on March 8 in the ACC tournament against Boston College, 14 days after her surgery.
“Ever since day one of surgery that I had, I was super locked in to my nutrition, my sleep, making sure I did everything I could,” Ustby, who turned 23 on Tuesday, said on the show. “I used some red-light therapy on my leg and my knee.”
She did whatever it took to get back, including drinking bone broth every day.
Ustby, who is part of the photo montage on the cover of Sports Illustated’s NCAA tournament preview issue, suggested that her surgeon didn’t expect her to come back that soon.
“He was a little timid to let me go, but I passed all the tests with flying colors,” Ustby said. “My knees were similar in terms of their strength, and so there was no reason not to let me go, and I just really committed and trusted the process.”
Ustby praised the sports performance staff and her teammates for helping her come back so soon.
“It’s just a big combination of things, but it was just a really bizarre journey that I went on for a couple weeks and then came back out on the court to play,” she said.
Ustby scored in double figures in two of her three ACC tournament games, collecting 12 points and tying her career-high with 18 rebounds in the 60–56 quarterfinal victory over No. 22-ranked Florida State.
Ustby is nine rebounds away from becoming the program’s all-time leader, entering the NCAA tournament with 1,243 rebounds. After missing her final senior day game, she could play two more games at Carmichael.
Birmingham Regional 2
Thursday’s First Four result
No. 11 Columbia 63, No. 11 Washington 60
First round
Friday’s results
Columbia, S.C.
No. 9 Indiana 76, No. 8 Utah 68
No. 1 South Carolina 108, No. 16 Tennessee Tech 48
Durham
No. 10 Oregon 77, No. 7 Vanderbilt 73, OT
No. 2 Duke 86, No. 15 Lehigh 25
Saturday’s results
College Park, Md.
No. 5 Alabama 81, No. 12 Green Bay 67
No. 4 Maryland 82, No. 13 Norfolk St. 69
Chapel Hill
No. 6 West Virginia 78, No. 11 Columbia 59
No. 3 North Carolina 70, No. 14 Oregon St. 49
Second round
Sunday’s results
Durham
No. 2 Duke 59, No. 10 Oregon 53
Columbia, S.C.
No. 1 South Carolina 64, vs. No. 9 Indiana 53
Monday’s games
College Park, Md.
No. 4 Maryland 111, No. 5 Alabama 108, 2 OTs
Chapel Hill
No. 3 North Carolina 58, No. 6 West Virginia 47
Birmingham, Ala.
Friday’s regional semifinals
No. 2 Duke (28–7) vs. No. 3 North Carolina (29–7), 2:30, ESPN
No. 1 South Carolina (32–3) vs. No. 4 Maryland (25–7), 5 p.m., ESPN
Sunday’s regional championship
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m., ABC
UNC schedule
| Date | Day/ month | Time, TV | Opponent/event (rank in final poll) |
|---|---|---|---|
| October | Exhibitions | ||
| 18 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Davidson |
| 24 | Saturday | 1 p.m., Big Ten Network+ | at No. 20 Maryland |
| November | Regular season | ||
| 2 | Monday | 2:30 ET | Oui-Play in Paris vs. No. 12 Oklahoma |
| 8 | Sunday | 5:30, ESPN | Ally Tipoff in Charlotte vs. No. 2 South Carolina |
| 11 | Wednesday | TBA | vs. N.C. Central |
| 14 | Saturday | 4 p.m., ESPN+ | at Penn in Palestra |
| WBCA Showcase | Orlando | ||
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. Texas Tech |
| 21 | Saturday | 5 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Alabama |
| ——— | |||
| 24 | Tuesday | TBA | vs. Gardner-Webb |
| 27 | Friday | TBA | vs. Army |
| 29 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Brown |
| December | |||
| 2 | Wednesday | 7:15, ESPN2 | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge vs. No. 8 LSU |
| 6 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Elon |
| 9 | Wednesday | 11 a.m. | vs. Winthrop |
| 13 | Sunday | TBA | vs. N.C. State |
| 17 | Thursday | TBA | vs. Georgia Tech |
| 21 | Monday | TBA | vs. Norfolk State |
| 28 | Monday | TBA | vs. UNCW |
| 31 | Thursday | TBA | at Syracuse |
| January | |||
| 3 | Sunday | TBA | at Clemson |
| 7 | Thursday | TBA | vs. Wake Forest |
| 10 | Sunday | TBA | at No. 11 Louisville |
| 17 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Boston College |
| 21 | Thursday | TBA | at California |
| 24 | Sunday | TBA | at Stanford |
| 28 | Thursday | TBA | vs. No. 9 Notre Dame |
| 31 | Sunday | TBA | vs. No. 5 Duke |
| February | |||
| 4 | Thursday | TBA | at Miami |
| 7 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Virginia Tech |
| 14 | Sunday | TBA | at SMU |
| 18 | Thursday | TBA | at Pittsburgh |
| 21 | Sunday | TBA | vs. Florida State |
| 25 | Thursday | TBA | vs. No. 19 Virginia |
| 28 | Sunday | TBA | at No. 5 Duke |
| March | |||
| 3–7 | Wed.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
