No. 24 UNC women clamp down on defense, overpower Oklahoma at Jumpman Invitational
Most teams don’t play a single game over two calendar days, but the Tar Heels did — and they picked up a win in the process.
The No. 24 UNC women (8-4) defeated Oklahoma (6-4), 61-52, in the second annual Jumpman Invitational on Tuesday night at Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
Neither program got into a sustained offensive rhythm, but the Carolina defense did what it needed to stop the Sooners.
“It didn’t start well,” Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart said. “I’m choosing to ignore that part of it and recognize that they scored 23 points in the first quarter and they scored 29 the whole rest of the way. Let’s focus on those three (quarters).”
Senior Deja Kelly led all scorers with 21 points, while senior Alyssa Ustby contributed a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double. Her 13 boards marked a season high.
The teams’ most recent meeting was in 2008, when the Tar Heels defeated the Sooners by one-point in Norman. The Heels now lead the all-time series, 3-2.
Here are three takeaways from the Heels’ final non-conference game of the regular season:
Sooners set the pace early
Courtney Banghart said last week the team — which is getting healthier — wants to play faster on both ends of the floor. The Heels settled into the game, but it didn’t achieve that in the first several minutes.
Oklahoma controlled things in the first quarter, starting with two quick buckets out the gate, both coming on second-chance opportunities. The Sooners broke down the Carolina defense at times, as well, getting into the lane for easy layups. Within the first four minutes, OU made six buckets to Carolina’s three.
The Heels were down by as many as nine points with 38 seconds remaining in the first quarter. They ultimately settled in, but UNC largely reacted to OU’s pace at the beginning instead of setting the tempo itself.
Deja Kelly has her ‘Michael Jordan’ game
Kelly recorded her third 20-point game of the season, and she did so while battling illness. The senior hasn’t been feeling well for several days, Banghart said, and has been throwing up. Kelly vomited during timeouts Tuesday.
Banghart likened Kelly’s 21-point, six-rebound performance to the famous Michael Jordan “Flu game.” It’s only appropriate that it happened at the Jumpman event.
She added a game-tying bucket at halftime, and scored her 1,500th career point.
Kelly playing any minutes would’ve been impressive, but her ability to lead all scorers and defend effectively — in a state that would keep most people home — is something the Heels will remember for a while.
“Deja is a dog and that girl will do anything for her teammates,” Ustby said. “She knows how much he brings to our team. Being sick — she’s pretty sick — for her to come out here and to play so selflessly, to even get to the basket and just hold her own was remarkable. I’m so proud of her, and I’m just really happy that she’s on my team.”
Tar Heel defense causes trouble
UNC didn’t record its best offensive outing, but the defense did. It put on its best performance against a Power Five school this season.
The Heels entered the game No. 51 in scoring defense, holding teams to 55.6 points per game. That ranking will go up after the victory.
Carolina allowed 23 points in the first quarter, but it completely neutralized the Sooners after that, allowing just 29 points the rest of the way. In the third quarter, Oklahoma missed 17 shots, and 13 in a row, while scoring just four points.
The Sooners’ 3-point game was nonexistent after its game-opening shot — they went an abysmal 1-for-26 from the perimeter.
“I think the turning point was just reminding each other what our scout is about and just locking into personnel, communicating on offense and defense, getting looks that we want and just buying into that through the adversity that we started to face as the game started,” Ustby said. “Staying the course — that’s what got us through.”
Banghart said the team focused on getting the right players to take the wrong shots, making them think they’re open, so they’ll make the attempt. UNC also shut down Oklahoma’s transition offense, where it scores most of its points.
“Their transition game is really deadly. When you see the ball in the basket, it makes your shooting easier, so we locked down their transition,” Banghart said, noting OU scored just 15 fast break points. “This is a team that scores almost 40% of their offense in transition. We didn’t want them to see the ball go in the basket ever and then feel good about themselves.”
This story was originally published December 20, 2023 at 8:10 AM with the headline "No. 24 UNC women clamp down on defense, overpower Oklahoma at Jumpman Invitational."
