UNC women’s basketball falls to Ohio State, 71-69, in second round of NCAA Tournament

This time, Deja Kelly’s late-game heroics weren’t enough for the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Kelly, playing on a hobbled knee, hit a game-tying layup against host and third-seeded Ohio State on Monday with 9.7 seconds to play in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

But those ticks left on the clock allowed the Buckeyes to respond. Ohio State’s Jacy Sheldon sank a floater in traffic with 1.8 left to play, and the Tar Heels failed to inbound the ball for a good look at the basket at the end of the game.

Despite Kelly’s 22 points, No. 6 North Carolina fell to Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio by a score of 71-69.

“It’s the beauty of March and it’s the brutality of March,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “I asked them to be what they have been all year, which is a group of fighters… You got to be so good to win in March. And we just weren’t quite good enough.”

The result denies the Tar Heels (22-11) the opportunity to go to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season. Had UNC won, it would’ve marked their first back-to-back trips to the regional semifinals under coach Courtney Banghart and the first for the program since the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.

Instead, the Buckeyes (27-7) move on to face either No. 7 Baylor or No. 2 UConn in Seattle, Washington.

Kelly shot 7-of-18 from the floor of Value City Arena and also tallied five rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks. Alyssa Ustby and Kennedy Todd-Williams each scored 16 points, and Ustby also added nine rebounds and three assists, both game-highs for the Tar Heels.

Ohio State was powered by 17 points from Taylor Mikesell and 16 points, six rebounds and five assists by Sheldon.

Kelly was carried off the floor by UNC staffers with 6:59 left to play in the fourth quarter after an apparent knee injury. And moments before Kelly went down, fellow starter Eva Hodgson left the game with what seemed to be an upper-body injury. When Kelly exited the game, UNC trailed by 12 points, but without two starters on the floor, the Tar Heels fought back, cutting the deficit to three points by the time Kelly returned with 2:33 left.

“As soon as they were taking me back to the locker room, my only thought was, ‘What’s the score? What’s the time? What do I need to do to get back on the floor?’ And so, I was back here in the hallway with our doctor trying to figure that out,” Kelly said. “It was up to the doctor, but I wasn’t going to go down without a fight. I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.”

After Kelly hit two free throws, Ustby stole the next Ohio State possession and fed Paulina Paris for a lay-up on a fast break that gave UNC its first lead of the game with 2:09 to play. The two sides then traded baskets, with the Buckeyes getting the last word.

While Kelly returned to the contest, Hodgson never did, and finished with six points on 2-of-2 shooting from behind the arc in just 15 minutes of play.

“We just fought, with the younger guys in there too. We definitely locked in and I thought that was a big moment for us,” Todd-Williams said.

The game began with a rough start for the Tar Heels, as they missed their first six shots and committed two turnovers while the Buckeyes raced ahead for an 11-2 lead. But UNC responded with a 12-5 run to cut the deficit to two points by the end of the first quarter. Kelly had eight points, a rebound and a steal during that stretch for the Tar Heels.

UNC trailed by as much as 10 points in the third quarter, but cut the deficit to one point with a 14-5 run. Kayla McPherson had five points, a rebound and a steal during that sequence, in which UNC held the Buckeyes to no made field goals for more than six minutes.

The Tar Heels lost despite outscoring Ohio State in the paint, 42-30, and matching the Buckeyes in 3-pointers made with five. UNC also forced Ohio State into 21 turnovers and scored 24 points off them. The Buckeyes shot 5% better from the floor and won the rebounding battle by four. Next season, UNC should return four starters from this team in Kelly, Todd-Williams, Ustby and Poole, who are all juniors.

“It’s obviously good for college basketball when good players stay together, right? This is a group that has gotten better,” Banghart said. “And so, as you think about where they were when they first came and where they are now, I mean, statistically, they’ve really improved. And so, now you’re going to give me six months with these guys to get them better? I like that. I’m excited because I know they’ll get better.”

Graduating from the program will be Hodgson, the Tar Heels’ top 3-point shooter at 40.7%. No other Tar Heel made more than 32% of their attempts from deep. It could be a need that Banghart addresses in the constantly revolving transfer portal.

This story was originally published March 20, 2023 at 6:44 PM.