After setting a new career high in the UNC women’s basketball team’s win over Boston College on Sunday, Carolina redshirt freshman guard Kayla McPherson was named the ACC’s Rookie of the Week.

McPherson scored 22 points against the Eagles in her first appearance as a collegiate starter. McPherson stepped in for a Tar Heel team missing three starters. As well as points scored, McPherson also set career highs in field goals (nine), three-pointers (four), rebounds (six) and minutes (29:29).

McPherson also scored seven points in Carolina’s loss at Syracuse on Thursday, giving her a 14.5 points per game average over the course of last week.

The Boston College game was just McPherson’s fifth appearance of her college career. The highly-touted recruit battled various knee and leg injuries at the end of her high school career and beginning of her college career, including a torn ACL which kept her out of her entire senior season of high school. Her true freshman season at UNC was entirely dedicated to rehab, and a new injury in this past preseason kept her out until January. According to McPherson, her debut against Clemson was her first action in approximately 800 days.

McPherson is the second Tar Heel to win the Women’s Basketball Rookie of the Week honor this season, after Paulina Paris did so in January. Carolina will be back in action on Thursday at NC State.

 

Featured image via UNC Women’s Basketball on Twitter

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.

Related Stories
‹
Non-Conference Schedule Set for UNC Women's Basketball's 2026-27 Season
The UNC women’s basketball program has confirmed its full non-conference schedule for the 2026-27 regular season. You asked, we answered. The non-conference schedule is 𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀! 📰 | https://t.co/OEnIKLy7Dt🎟️ | Season tickets on-sale SOON! pic.twitter.com/ClynYQpKSG — Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) July 30, 2026 Several of the Tar Heels’ fixtures have already been announced: UNC will face […]
UNC Women's Basketball to Face Texas Tech, Alabama at WBCA Showcase
The UNC women’s basketball program has added two more games to its non-conference schedule for the 2026-27 season. The Tar Heels will face Texas Tech and Alabama as part of the WBCA Showcase in Orlando this November. Adding a Dash of Carolina Blue to the Happiest Place on Earth ✨ 📰 | https://t.co/zWPDqLzjnV pic.twitter.com/bQ51fNumF8 — […]
Check out the Full Schedule for UNC's ACC Network Takeover
The ACC Network will air a full day of UNC games from the 2025-26 academic year Wednesday, July 1. It’s part of a series of ACC Network Takeovers, which started June 24 and include all 18 member schools. UNC’s takeover includes wall-to-wall coverage from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. The broadcast day gets underway with […]
UNC Men's Basketball to Host Arkansas, Women to Host LSU in 2026 ACC-SEC Challenge
The matchups have been set for both the UNC men’s and women’s basketball programs in the upcoming ACC-SEC Challenge: the men will host Arkansas on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at the Smith Center, while the women will host LSU on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at Carmichael Arena. ACC/SEC challenge is set 🗓️ pic.twitter.com/AWzBSN1Cbv — Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) […]
Multiple UNC Teams Post Perfect Academic Progress Rates, New Report Says
Several UNC sports programs posted perfect single-year and multi-year academic progress rates for the 2024-25 academic year, according to the NCAA’s latest report. Academic progress rate (APR) is used to track performance of scholarship students who compete on varsity teams, and the score measures eligibility and retention each semester. A perfect score is 1000, and […]
Virginia Transfer Gabby White, Daughter of UNC Assistant Joanne Aluka-White, Commits to Tar Heels
Virginia guard Gabby White, who spent her freshman season with the Cavaliers, announced her commitment to join UNC out of the transfer portal Tuesday morning. View this post on Instagram White has strong local connections. A star at Seaforth High School in Pittsboro, White scored more than 1,900 career points and grabbed more than 1,100 […]
Atlanta Dream Select UNC's Indya Nivar in 2nd Round of WNBA Draft
The Atlanta Dream selected former UNC standout Indya Nivar with the 28th pick in the second round of the WNBA Draft Monday night. League HER. Indya is headed to Atlanta! pic.twitter.com/sa5gaRDYy8 — Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) April 14, 2026 Originally from Apex, Nivar was named the North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year and the […]
Stanford Transfer Chloe Clardy Commits to UNC Women's Basketball
A third transfer is joining the UNC women’s basketball program. Chloe Clardy, who spent the first three seasons of her career at Stanford, committed to the Tar Heels Sunday. God’s plan🩵 #committed pic.twitter.com/DA3szvt0Da — Chloe Clardy (@chloeclardy13) April 12, 2026 Clardy became a prominent player in the Cardinal’s rotation as a sophomore, starting 18 games […]
Syracuse Transfer Sophie Burrows Announces Commitment to UNC
Sophie Burrows, who spent her first three college seasons at Syracuse, committed to UNC out of the transfer portal Saturday. View this post on Instagram Originally from Australia, Burrows is an ACC veteran, having started 65 games across three seasons for the Orange. After earning four starts as a true freshman in the 2023-24 season, […]
Oklahoma State Transfer Achol Akot Commits to UNC Women's Basketball
Achol Akot, who spent the 2025-26 season with Oklahoma State, announced her commitment to head coach Courtney Banghart and UNC out of the transfer portal Friday. Akot will have one year of eligibility remaining. View this post on Instagram Before Oklahoma State, Akot spent the first two seasons of her collegiate career at UCF. She […]
›