No. 3 NC State Rallies Past UNC Women's Basketball

The No. 3 NC State Wolfpack used a big third quarter to erase a halftime lead for head coach Courtney Banghart’s UNC women’s basketball team, and held off every Carolina attempt at a rally to earn a gutsy win inside Carmichael Arena Sunday afternoon.

Final from Carmichael ⤵️ What a battle!#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/AXwQ28KjIZ

— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) January 30, 2022

The Tar Heels began the game in much better fashion than in their first matchup with the Wolfpack, when Carolina found itself down 24-7 after the first quarter. This time, UNC used active defense and six points from sophomore guard Kennedy Todd-Williams to hold a 19-13 advantage after 10 minutes, and a 33-27 advantage at halftime.

But the Wolfpack did what great teams do in the third quarter, heating up from the field and suffocating the Tar Heels on defense. Star center Elissa Cunane had seven points in the period, including a critical three-pointer to give NC State a 36-33 lead. The Wolfpack would open the quarter on a 12-0 run before UNC scored on a Carlie Littlefield layup.

Carolina hung tough from there, slicing the NC State lead down to 50-46 in the fourth quarter, but could not contain the Wolfpack’s clutch outside shooting. The Tar Heels were able to stay competitive despite zero points from their leading scorer, sophomore guard Deja Kelly. It was Kelly’s first scoreless game of her college career. She’s scored just 13 points combined in her last three games, after reaching double figures in UNC’s first 17 games of the season.

With Kelly silenced, it was Todd-Williams who once again took up the scoring mantle, dropping in a team-high 15 on 6-9 shooting from the field. Todd-Williams has now scored 15 points in three of her last four games. She also pulled down seven rebounds, just one behind teammate Alyssa Ustby. Carolina’s size disadvantage did not prevent it from fighting hard on the glass, and the Tar Heels actually ended the game with more offensive rebounds than the Wolfpack.

The loss came before a rowdy Carmichael Arena crowd eager to see the Tar Heels in their first home game since a blowout win at Duke earlier in the week. Despite the result, it’s an encouraging sign for a UNC program which aims to rejoin the nation’s elites sooner rather than later.

“That was an awesome environment,” said wing Carlie Littlefield, who finished with 12 points. “Our fans really showed out, it was really loud. We showed a lot of fight and we stuck together. [NC State] hit some big shots but we just kept fighting. That was just a really fun game. Obviously I wish it was a different result but I’m just really proud of everybody.”

Sunday’s game was the last in a stretch of the schedule which saw Carolina take on five ranked teams in seven games, four of which came on the road. UNC ended that stretch with a 3-4 record (1-4 against the ranked teams), but will not see another ranked foe until February 17, when No. 5 Louisville visits Chapel Hill. Up next, the Tar Heels will visit Wake Forest, who eliminated Carolina from last season’s ACC Tournament, on Thursday, February 3.

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati

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No. 3 NC State Rallies Past UNC Women’s Basketball

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