The UNC women’s basketball team got all it could handle from visiting Davidson on Sunday in Carmichael Arena. The Wildcats fought back from a 13-point deficit midway through the third quarter and took a 64-62 lead on the Tar Heels in the fourth, but clutch plays down the stretch saw Carolina through to the finish line in a 74-70 win.

Four of Carolina’s five starters scored in double figures, with senior guard Deja Kelly leading the way with 18. It was a jumper from Kelly which gave the Tar Heels the lead back at 65-64 with 4:30 remaining, and buckets from Alyssa Ustby and Lexi Donarski kept Carolina afloat down the nervy final stretch.

Donarski, a transfer from Iowa State, continued to impress as a Tar Heel with 15 points on 5-9 shooting in 35 minutes of action. She made three of Carolina’s five three-pointers on the night, including a critical one with 2:30 to go which gave UNC a four-point lead. She also made Carolina’s final two free throws of the night, once again putting the Tar Heels up by four.

Free throw shooting was a particular point of trouble for UNC in the fourth quarter, as Carolina missed eight in the final 10 minutes. That included four consecutive misses from the normally reliable Kelly and Donarski, and it was only the offensive rebounding of Ustby and Boston College transfer Maria Gakdeng which bailed Carolina out. UNC shot just 17-26 (65 percent) at the line on the day.

The win moves UNC to 2-0 on the young season, with two more non-conference home games on the docket before the team heads down to Florida for the Gulf Coast Showcase over the Thanksgiving holiday. The first of those home games will come against Hampton on Wednesday at 11 a.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Women’s Basketball on Twitter

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