No. 15 UNC women’s basketball started its trip out west with a win on Thursday night, as the Tar Heels’ defense powered them to a 65-52 over No. 19 California. It was the Golden Bears’ first loss in Haas Pavilion this season, and keeps Carolina undefeated on the road in ACC play.

Sophomore guard Reniya Kelly paced the Tar Heels with 16 points on 7-for-15 shooting, while fifth-year senior Alyssa Ustby added 11 points and 7 rebounds. Senior forward Maria Gakdeng fell one point short of a double-double, picking up 9 points and 13 rebounds — single-handedly grabbing more offensive rebounds in the game (6) than Cal (5).

 

The Tar Heels’ conference-leading defense slowed Cal’s offense, which is one of the ACC leaders in three-point shooting, for much of the game. While UNC occasionally struggled to contain star senior guard Ioanna Krimili, who finished with 20 points and 4-of-8 from deep, the rest of the Golden Bears finished 1-of-9 from three and shot just 37% from the floor as a team.

Cal’s only lead came in the first minutes of the game before UNC quickly responded, as junior Indya Nivar rattled off 7 consecutive points — her only scores of the game. After taking a seven-point lead into the half, Carolina also started the third quarter quickly, using a Ustby bucket and Kelly jumper to push the score to 37-26. California then rattled off a 12-2 run and the Tar Heels suffered a four-minute scoring drought to make it a one possession game, and the rest of the third quarter remained tight.

But UNC put together one of its patented stretches of suffocating defense and held California scoreless for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. Additionally, Gakdeng and Ustby’s strong presence in the paint limited Cal’s starting frontcourt players, Marta Suarez and Ugonne Onyiah, who finished in foul trouble. Digging into the Bears’ depth allowed the Tar Heels to continue attacking the paint and grabbing key rebounds in the final frame to help their lead balloon to 14 points in the last few minutes.

The result returns UNC (19-4, 7-3) to the win column after a buzzer-beater loss to Florida State in Carmichael Arena on Sunday, which snapped a five-game winning streak. It also moves the Tar Heels ahead of Cal (18-4, 6-3) in the conference standings after the programs’ first matchup as ACC foes.

Head coach Courtney Banghart and the team will remain in California as part of a west-coast swing welcoming the ACC’s newcomers, as the Tar Heels face Stanford on Sunday at 3 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Women’s Basketball on X.

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