Through three quarters, Carolina, the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s Greensboro region, found itself in a dogfight with the No. 12 seed Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks. The underdog led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, and kept its advantage at two points into the fourth quarter, despite numerous comeback attempts by the Tar Heels. Head coach Courtney Banghart was staring down her second straight one-and-done showing in the NCAA Tournament, and the team’s second straight loss of the season. Even worse, this one would send them packing.

But Carolina picked a good time to wake up, blazing past the Ladyjacks to the tune of a 25-10 fourth quarter, powered by nine late points from sophomore guard Deja Kelly. She ended the night with 28, and the Tar Heels ended the night on top. It’s the team’s first NCAA Tournament win in seven years.

“Clearly, we hadn’t played in two and a half weeks, except for one game” said Banghart. “And you could tell. There was a lot of rust on both ends.”

Four Tar Heel starters and five players overall joined Kelly in double figures. Eva Hodgson finished with 10 points in 29 minutes off the bench, including two critical three-pointers in the third quarter to keep pace with the Ladyjacks. Carolina found itself behind early due to 10 first-half turnovers, which gave Stephen F. Austin 10 points. Even more concerning, the Ladyjacks were outrebounding the Tar Heels by a 22-16 margin and had 14 second-chance points, compared to just five from Carolina. Stephen F. Austin rattled off an 11-0 run across the first and second quarters, turning an 18-17 deficit into a 28-18 lead.

The Tar Heels finally found their sea legs late in the second quarter, whittling the Ladyjacks lead down to three points as the teams headed to their respective locker rooms.

“At halftime, we really got into [the team] a little bit,” Banghart said. “And [we] required that we get back to our standard.”

Both teams came out hot in the third quarter, with Carolina and Stephen F. Austin exchanging three-pointers for the first five minutes. With 11 points from Kelly, UNC cut it to one point multiple times and tied it late in the period on a basket from Kennedy Todd-Williams, but a pair of Ladyjack free throws gave the No. 12 seed the lead heading into the final quarter.

With its season on the line, Carolina blitzed Stephen F. Austin to begin the period, ripping off a 16-3 run to take a 70-59 lead. Kelly once again showcased her scoring, raining in her fourth three-pointer of the night and then her vintage mid-range to cap off the spurt.

“As soon as I pass to her, I’m ready to box out, just in case she misses,” sophomore forward Alyssa Ustby said of Kelly. “But she doesn’t miss often.”

Just like that, UNC had seized control of the game, and wouldn’t let the Ladyjacks get any closer than 10 points before the final buzzer sounded in Tucson.

The Tar Heels shot 53.8 percent in the fourth quarter, while holding Stephen F. Austin to just 23.1 percent in the same timespan. The Ladyjacks shot just 9-30 in the second half as a whole, in which Carolina outscored Stephen F. Austin 46-30.

“What I’ll remember about this game is how much these guys trusted each other,” said Banghart. “When things weren’t going well… they really just trusted each other. Huge win for our program with how far we’ve come.”

Now, UNC sits a win away from returning to Greensboro for the tournament’s Sweet 16. Standing in the Tar Heels’ way will be either No. 4 seed Arizona, the hosts for the first and second rounds. Carolina will play what amounts to a true road game against last season’s national runner-up on Monday.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati

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