A 20-point outing from Lexi Donarski and a double-double from Alyssa Ustby helped the UNC women’s basketball team snap its four-game losing streak with a 75-62 win against Pittsburgh at Carmichael Arena on Thursday.

Donarski’s 20 points are her most in a game since scoring 23 against Clemson on New Year’s Eve. Her productive day included six made threes, by far the most on the team. She took a whopping 14 shots from long distance, compared to only one two-pointer. Ustby added 14 points and 10 assists, finishing just three rebounds shy of her second triple-double of the season. Deja Kelly finished with 17 points.

The Tar Heels needed every last bit of that production from their Big Three, as head coach Courtney Banghart dealt with an extremely short bench. Guard Reniya Kelly, who played at least 30 minutes in four of the team’s previous five games, did not dress as she deals with a lower-body injury. Kelly’s absence made room for Sydney Barker to briefly play off the bench. Barker was recently awarded a scholarship.

Teonni Key gave Carolina good minutes in a reserve role, scoring 11 points in 17 minutes. Indya Nivar played 24 minutes off the bench and scored six points. They were the only non-starters to play more than two minutes.

UNC scuffled with the 7-18 Panthers in a low-scoring first quarter, entering the second leading just 9-6. Pittsburgh then made five threes in the second quarter alone and closed the half on an 11-5 run to lead 29-27 at the break. Carolina made a run of its own in the third to lead 46-35, but the Panthers clawed back into it with 11 unanswered points to tie the game.

The Tar Heels wouldn’t firmly put the game away until late in the fourth quarter, when a Nivar three capped a 9-0 run and gave Carolina its largest lead of the night at 69-56.

The win improves UNC to 16-9 overall and 8-5 in conference play. Carolina is tied with Notre Dame, but carries the tiebreaker by virtue of its win against the Fighting Irish in January. Up next for the Tar Heels is a visit to Wake Forest on Sunday at 6 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Women’s Basketball on Twitter

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