Three-pointers help Heels pull upset
NORTH CAROLINA 76, NO. 4 NORTH CAROLINA ST. 69
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Alyssa Ustby and her North Carolina teammates heeded their coach’s call for a performance worthy of playing in a long-running rivalry.
It was good enough to give the Tar Heels another upset win against No. 4 North Carolina State, too.
The freshman had season-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds to help the Tar Heels beat the Wolfpack 76-69 on Sunday, marking the third consecutive season UNC has upended a top-10 N.C. State team.
“I just challenged them from the beginning that these rivalry games are a sacred part of sports,” second-year Coach Courtney Banghart said, adding: “You have to honor that with your energy, and they did that.”
The Tar Heels (9-8, 4-8 ACC) had won just one game since shortly before Christmas. And they had made just 30% of their three-pointers all season. Yet they hit a season-best 11 three-pointers on Sunday, including several big ones down the stretch after blowing a 12-point second-half lead against a team coming off a win at No. 1 Louisville.
Elissa Cunane scored 14 points to lead the Wolfpack (12-2, 7-2), though she was limited after halftime by foul trouble before fouling out with 1:36 left. And N.C. State shot the ball poorly until well into the third quarter after UNC had gained confidence early.
“We knew it would be a dangerous game,” Wolfpack Coach Wes Moore said. “Unfortunately, we just didn’t have an answer.”
N.C. State regrouped with a 13-0 run to get back in it and lead 52-49 entering the final quarter. But the Tar Heels responded with their own push to go ahead for good, starting with freshman Kennedy Todd-Williams’ three-pointer near the 9-minute mark.
UNC went on to hit 5 of 7 3s in that final period, including Stephanie Watts hitting one that made it 69-62 with 2:11 left. N.C. State got no closer than four the rest of the way.
In other Top 25 women’s games Sunday, Dana Evans scored 27 points, including five late, to lead top-ranked Louisville to a 71-65 victory over Notre Dame. The Cardinals (18-1, 11-1 ACC) won their second in a row, and Evans their lone senior was a major reason why. The player of the year candidate scored 16 of her points in the first half to help Louisville take a 42-34 lead at the break. The lead would grow to 11 less than 90 seconds into the second half. However, the Fighting Irish (8-8, 6-6) only trailed 66-65 with 1:41 left. … Charisma Osborne scored 21 points, Michaela Onyenwere added 15 and No. 5 UCLA hammered Washington 84-50 in Seattle. Osborne, the Pac-12’s leading scorer, reached 20 points for the seventh consecutive game as the Bruins (11-3, 9-3 Pac-12) sent the Huskies (4-10, 1-10) to their eighth consecutive loss. UCLA also got 14 points from Emily Bessoir in a near-perfect shooting night. UCLA has now won six of its last seven after losing for the first time in 2021 at Washington State on Friday. … Kiana Williams found her shooting stroke early on the way to 13 points making all three of her three-point tries, leading host Stanford to an 83-41 victory over Utah. Haley Jones bounced back from a tough 2-of-10 shooting performance two days earlier to score 12 points on 6-for-10 from the floor and freshman Cameron Brink also added 12 points as Stanford (17-2, 14-2 Pac-12) finished 52% on field goals. It was the largest margin of victory in 28 meetings between the schools. Lola Pendande scored 11 points for Utah (5-11, 4-11) with seven of those coming at the free throw line. … NaLyssa Smith scored 17 points and No. 8 Baylor beat Kansas State 64-52 in Manhattan, Kan. Dijonai Carrington and Moon Ursin each had 16 points. Ursin had six of those in the final two minutes as the Lady Bears beat the Wildcats for the 35th consecutive time. Kansas State (5-11, 0-9 Big 12) was led by Ayoka Lee who scored 21 and Rachel Ranke who had 12. The Lady Bears (14-2, 9-1) went on a 12-0 run early in the second quarter. … Dorka Juhasz and Aaliyah Patty both had double-doubles and No. 11 Ohio State dominated the first and third quarters to roll to to a win over Minnesota in Columbus, Ohio. Juhasz had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Patty had 14 and 10. Jacy Sheldon scored 17 points for the Buckeyes (11-2, 7-2 Big Ten). Kadiatou Sissoko scored 13 points for the Golden Gophers (5-8, 4-7) with Sara Scalia and Klarke Sconiers adding 12 each. … Mackenzie Holmes scored 25 points and Ali Patberg 23 as No. 17 Indiana broke away in final period to defeat Iowa 8572 in Iowa City, Iowa. Despite Indiana’s (11-4, 9-2 Big Ten) national ranking, Iowa (10-6, 6-6) has dominated the series, 5120. The win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is a rare one — Indiana’s first there since Feb. 20, 1994. … Deja Church scored a career-high 24 points, Sonya Morris added 23 and her layup with 26 seconds left gave No. 20 DePaul enough breathing room to outlast Marquette in Milwaukee. The Blue Demons (10-4, 7-2 Big East) had battled Marquette through a tight first half, but then opened the second with a 19-4 run and seemed on the verge of a runaway win. Marquette (12-4, 9-3) held DePaul scoreless for nearly all of the final five minutes of the third quarter as it chopped the lead down from 17 points to four, 63-59, and kept going into the fourth. … Lindsey Pulliam scored 22 points, Veronica Burton added 19 and No. 22 Northwestern held on to beat Michigan State 63-60 after blowing a 21-point lead in East Lansing, Mich. Burton scored eight points in the fourth quarter and Pulliam hit the jumper that erased Michigan State’s only lead of the game with 2:48 to play. The Spartans had a 15-3 run, taking the lead at 58-56 on a Janai Crooms jumper with 3:52 to play. Michigan State (10-5, 5-5 Big Ten), which trailed 37-16 in the closing minute of the first half, had a turnover, missed its last four shots and went 2 of 4 from the foul line from that point. Pulliam and Burton combined for 15 points in the first quarter when the Wildcats (11-3, 9-3) opened a 19-7 lead and had a combined 23 to build a 37-18 halftime advantage.
TOP 25 MEN
In men’s Top 25 games played Sunday, Jermaine Samuels scored a career-high 32 points to lead No. 3 Villanova to an 84-74 victory over visiting Georgetown. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl added 14 points and Collin Gillespie had 12 for the Wildcats (12-2, 7-1 Big East), who rebounded from Wednesday’s loss at St. John’s. Jahvon Blair scored 18 points and Qudus Wahab had 17 for Georgetown (5-9, 3-6). … In Bloomington, Ind., Armaan Franklin made a 15-footer with 1.8 seconds left, giving Indiana a 67-65 victory and a season sweep of No. 8 Iowa. Franklin finished with four points as the Hoosiers (10-8, 5-6 Big Ten) ended a twogame losing streak. Their only wins since Jan. 10 both came against the Hawkeyes. Luka Garza scored 16 of his 18 points for Iowa in the second half, including 12 in a row during the closing minutes. Iowa (13-6, 7-5) had one last gasp, but the long inbound pass hit the backboard and bounced toward midcourt, where Jordan Bohannon tried a one-handed heave that also bounced off the backboard. The Hawkeyes have lost two in a row and four of their last five. … Ben Krikke scored 15 points and host Valparaiso handed No. 25 Drake its first loss of the season with a 74-57 romp. The defeat by Drake (18-1, 9-1 Missouri Valley) left No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 Baylor as the only remaining major college teams still undefeated this season. A day after Valparaiso (7-12, 4-6) squandered a double-digit lead in the second half and lost to Drake 80-77, the Crusaders pulled away for just their second victory over a ranked opponent since beating Mississippi in the 1998 NCAA Tournament.