UNC pulls major upset over No. 4 NC State in women’s basketball

They did it in 2019. They did it in 2020. And now, they’ve done it in 2021.

Sunday afternoon marked the third straight season in which the North Carolina women’s basketball team upset heavily favored N.C. State, with this latest iteration coming in a game where the Tar Heels sank 11 3-pointers and saw rivalry newcomers Alyssa Ustby and Petra Holesínská combine for 35 points in a 76-69 win inside Carmichael Arena.

The victory comes promptly after a skid that saw the Tar Heels (9-8, 4-8 ACC) drop six of their previous seven games, most recently recording a season-low 51 points in a loss to Florida State on Thursday. The No. 4 Wolfpack (12-2, 7-2 ACC), meanwhile, was coming off of an emphatic 74-60 win against top-ranked Louisville.

“We told the team, ‘We figure it out when it’s N.C. State.’ And we always seem to bring our A-game against them,

UNC guard Stephanie Watts said. “No matter how the season’s going, we figure out a way to pull it out against State. And we did that again.”

Now, N.C. State will look to regroup after an outing which saw one of the most dynamic offensive teams in the country shoot just 39.4% from the field and 4 of 19 from deep.

Star center Elissa Cunane, in her second game back from a COVID-19 protocol absence, had a team-high 14 points for the Wolfpack, while Kayla Jones added 13 and Jada Boyd recorded 12.

“We’re not playing like a great team right now. We’re definitely not sending a message that we’re unbeatable, or anything like that,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. “Right now, forget the rankings, forget everything; we’ve got to play one game at a time.”

For North Carolina, Ustby’s 20 points — a career-high and well above her season average of 8.9 — on 8-of-10 shooting paced the Tar Heels, while three other players — Holesínská, Watts and Janelle Bailey — reached double digits.

A recap of the first three quarters is below.

First quarter

A tightly contested first quarter saw North Carolina jump out to a narrow 19-16 lead.

The Tar Heels saw contributions from Holesínská (5 points) and Ustby (8), who hit all three of their team’s triples in the opening period. N.C. State’s balanced attack was able to string together buckets despite a 2-8 mark from long distance and five turnovers — not a number that head coach Wes Moore was likely happy with.

However, the Wolfpack won the rebounding battle in the first ten minutes, 11-8, and had five players register field goals.

Second quarter

At the break, the Tar Heels — bolstered by a 5-of-11 mark from deep and 13 points from Ustby — held a 37-30 lead over heavily favored N.C. State.

Ustby was 5 of 6 from the field and made all three of her 3-point attempts in the game’s first 20 minutes, the biggest reason for UNC’s upset bid becoming that much more realistic. Holesínská and Watts both chipped in with 7 points, with the Tar Heels looking as efficient as they have all season, just a game removed from their worst offensive outing of the year against Florida State. A win would be easily the biggest feather in North Carolina’s cap this year, one that’s been plagued by inconsistency on both ends of the ball.

Nearly everything that went right for North Carolina in the first half went wrong for N.C. State. Though center Cunane had 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting, the Wolfpack as a whole was 3 of 12 from distance and 11 of 33 from the field overall. The team will need more in the second half from Jakia Brown-Turner (14.7 points per game) and Jones (12.5), who were a combined 4-of-15 shooting at the break, to keep things competitive.

The teams were tied in the rebounding battle at the break, 19-19, while 14 of N.C. State’s points came in the paint.

Third quarter

In the third quarter, things got worse for the Wolfpack before they got better.

N.C. State made just one of seven shots to start the second half — and trailed by as many as 12 points — before going on a 15-2 tear to take a one-point lead with 2:01 left in the period. The run was keyed by Kai Crutchfield (seven points in that stretch) and a number of others; after trading a few buckets, the Wolfpack took a 52-49 lead, and a surprising grasp on the game, into the fourth quarter. The team’s 9-18 shooting in the period was its most efficient of the day.

The Tar Heels, conversely, mustered just 12 points on 4-18 from the field, missing seven of eight 3-point attempts and struggling to generate any sort of consistent offense. No UNC player recorded more than one field goal in the quarter.

The period brought the teams nearly even in a number of statistics on the day —field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, rebounds — setting up a nail-biter of a final stanza.

This story was originally published February 7, 2021 at 1:26 PM.