Despite a career-high 23 points from freshman guard Alyssa Ustby, the UNC women’s basketball team fell to Wake Forest 82-71 on Thursday in Greensboro as part of the ACC Tournament Second Round.
The Demon Deacons (12-11, 8-10 ACC) were red-hot from three-point range, shooting 10-for-17 from deep on the way to the victory.
In addition to Ustby’s career-best outing, the Tar Heels (13-10, 8-9 ACC) received 19 points from their other freshman guard Deja Kelly. Seniors Stephanie Watts and Janelle Bailey also scored in double figures with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Wake Forest shot nearly 53 percent from the floor, becoming the first team to top the 50 percent mark against UNC all season long.
Freshman guards dominated the game on both sides, as rookie Jewel Spear scored 29 points for Wake Forest and tied an ACC Tournament record with seven made three-pointers.
UNC trailed for much of the afternoon, but pulled within two points midway through the fourth quarter before the Demon Deacons closed the game out on a 15-6 run.
This marks the second consecutive year that Wake Forest has eliminated UNC from the ACC Tournament.
“It’s pretty uncharacteristic that we would allow defense to be our [Achilles’] heel – I think we’ve been pretty good defensively all year long,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said afterwards. “They obviously came in guns a-firing. Offensively, we didn’t move the ball or our bodies with the pace or consistency we have been all year.”
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The Tar Heels will now have to wait to find out their NCAA Tournament fate before finding out who their opponent might be.
Photo via Dana Gentry (UNC Athletics)
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