Utsby's career-game leads Tar Heels past Wake Forest 58-50
Posted February 18, 2024 11:23 p.m. EST
Senior Alyssa Ustby hit 10 of 11 field goal attempts – including her first three-pointer of the season – and finished the evening with a career-high 25 points to lead the UNC women’s basketball team to a 58-50 road win over Wake Forest on Sunday at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Ustby also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for her 14th double-double of the season as the Tar Heels improved to 17-9 overall and 9-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Senior Deja Kelly scored 15 points, added five rebounds and played all 40 minutes in the win. Junior Maria Gakdeng scored nine points on 4-6 shooting and also had seven rebounds.
Carolina is back in action on Thursday night, hosting NC State at Carmichael Arena for an 8 p.m. tipoff.
Although UNC’s final total of 58 points tied for the third-lowest score of the season, the team’s 52.4 shooting percentage was the year’s best. The Tar Heels were 22-42 from the field, taking their second-fewest shots of the year.
Carolina made its first five shots of the night – including Ustby’s three – and got putbacks on the first two misses to take an early lead. The visitors were up 20-8 after a quarter on 56.3 percent shooting (9-16).
The hot shooting continued in the second quarter, there just wasn’t much of it: Carolina took just eight shots in the period but made five (62.5 percent) and led 31-20 at halftime.
Wake Forest (4-22, 0-14 ACC) never led on its Senior Night, but did get as close as six points on several occasions after halftime. With nine minutes to play in the game, Kate Deeble’s layup made the score 41-35, but Ustby matched that with a layup of her own to again make the margin eight.
The Demon Deacons got that close again with 32 seconds to play, but Kelly hit two free throws with 28 seconds remaining for the final margin.
Elise Williams led the home team with 13 points, Deeble finished with 12 on 5-7 shooting off the bench, and Malaya Cowles added 10.
Carolina, which won its third in a row against Wake Forest, won the rebounding battle 40-27 and held a 34-22 scoring advantage in the paint.
While UNC was outstanding from the field, the Tar Heels had their worst free throw shooting night of the season, making 11-25 (44.0).
