Courtney Banghart earned her first ACC Tournament win in four seasons as the UNC head coach Thursday night, as No. 7 seed Carolina defeated No. 10 seed Clemson 68-58 in the tournament’s second round in Greensboro.

Four UNC starters scored in double figures in a balanced offensive effort. Junior wing Alyssa Ustby led the way with 15 points, while also grabbing six rebounds, dishing out four assists, nabbing two steals and blocking a shot in an all-around performance. It marked the first time Ustby has scored in double figures since returning from an injury which kept her out most of February.

Eva Hodgson, who returned at the same time as Ustby but missed more games, scored 13 points on 4-7 shooting, all from behind the three-point line. Hodgson had scored just two combined points in her two previous games and hadn’t made a shot from the floor in that time. Guards Deja Kelly and Kennedy Todd-Williams contributed 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Carolina took a seven-point lead in the first quarter and extended it to as large as 12 points in the first half. Clemson managed to stay in the game and never trailed by more than 14 points in the second half, but also were never able to cut the lead lower than seven points for the remainder of the game. The UNC defense held the Tigers to just 37.9 percent shooting in the second half. Much of Clemson’s offense came from star Amari Robinson, who poured in 27 points on 9-12 shooting and a 7-7 performance at the foul line. Outside of her, though, the Tigers shot just 12-42 from the floor.

The win sets up a third meeting of the season between Carolina and Duke, the No. 2 seed in the tournament field. It’s also the second meeting in less than a week, as the Tar Heels defeated the Blue Devils 45-41 in Durham last Sunday to deny Duke a shot at an ACC regular-season crown. Under Banghart, Carolina has not advanced past the ACC quarterfinals, and hasn’t done so at all since the 2013-14 season. Ironically, that ACC Tournament run ended with a semifinal loss to Duke.

Tip-off of Friday’s game is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Greensboro. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network.

 

Featured image via UNC Women’s Basketball on Twitter

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