Moving on: UNC women outlast West Virginia, will face rival Duke in NCAA Sweet 16
The first half, as ugly as it was, made one thing clear: It was going to be that kind of game. A rock fight. A slugfest. An all-out brawl. By halftime, both North Carolina and West Virginia had combined for more turnovers than made field goals.
In the final seconds of the first quarter, with the score tied, UNC graduate transfer Grace Townsend was positioned in front of the WVU bench with the ball above her head. Mountaineer junior guard Jordan Harrison reached up, slapping the ball out of Townsend’s grasp. It tipped between the two of them before Harrison grabbed the ball firmly with two hands and, as she was on the brink of falling out of bounds, threw it off Townsend.
Possession: West Virginia.
UNC sophomore guard Reniya Kelly admitted that WVU’s press was unlike anything she’d seen this season. But, in a battle between two defense-first teams, No. 3 seed North Carolina adjusted to the Mountaineers’ pressure and fended off No. 6-seed West Virginia, 58-47, in a highly physical contest Monday night at Carmichael Arena. With the win, the Tar Heels advance to their 19th Sweet 16, and first since the 2022 season.
“I was tired of hearing about their defense,” North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart said. “Not because it’s not one of the best defenses in the country, but why was no one talking about our defense? Right? These guys can defend… so I think hearing about their defense allowed us to sort of say, ‘OK, we’re going to prove it.’”
West Virginia shot 24.1% for the game and North Carolina limited opposing guard JJ Quinerly — WVU’s leading scorer averaging 20.4 points per game — to a season-low eight points.
But amid the defensive standoff, one player stood out above the rest. UNC small forward Alyssa Ustby — who became the leading rebounder in program history in the Tar Heels’ 70-49 first-round victory over No. 14 seed Oregon State on Saturday — had another big game Monday. She led North Carolina with 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting, seven rebounds and a team-best four steals.
“We just had a lot of fire,” Ustby said. “We are really excited. We love playing with each other. We want to keep playing and we want to keep the season going. So there’s not anything that’s going to stop us.”
Ustby’s 21 points are her second-highest game total this season and the most points she’s recorded in a game since November — a fitting final game at home for the fifth-year player.
The small forward celebrated the win by jumping on the scorer’s table after the victory.
“Jumping on the scorer’s table has always been a dream of mine,” Ustby said. “I daydream about it a lot… I asked my assistant coach [Joanne Aluka-White], ‘Is it crazy if I do this?’ And she was like, ‘Do it!’”
Sixteen of Ustby’s points came in the second half, where she played a prominent role in North Carolina’s game-deciding 16-3 run. That stretch started with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter after Kelly tied the game at 33-33 with a jumper. Graduate sharpshooter Lexi Donarski followed that up with a three-pointer in transition to go up by three.
From there, Ustby went to work. She scored a layup with two minutes remaining in the third quarter. On the next possession, the small forward earned a trip to the foul line and sank both free throws to put UNC up by seven.
WVU senior guard Kyah Watson responded with a layup, and then Ustby drew another foul and trip to the line, sinking one of her free throws.
After North Carolina junior guard Indya Nivar ended the third quarter with a flashy euro step finish in transition, Ustby continued to help the Tar Heels add to their lead in the fourth quarter. The referees played a role as well, no doubt. To open the final quarter, five fouls were called on the Mountaineers in a minute.
The last of those whistles was the most damning.
That call sent fifth-year Kylee Blacksten — a starting forward for West Virginia — to the bench with five fouls after she body-checked Ustby on a baseline drive. Several North Carolina fans stood, smiled and waved goodbye to Blacksten as she checked out of the game for the last time.
Ustby sank the next two free throws. In the crowd, her father, Todd, held up two fingers. His daughter followed that up by blocking Harrison, then racing out for a fast-break layup to put North Carolina up by 11 points — its largest lead of the game.
“I’m just really happy for her… she’s poured five years into this program,” Gakdeng said of Ustby. “She’s seen it grow from the ground-up, seen the fan base grow. I’m really happy for her that she got that moment.”
After Ustby’s outburst, West Virginia struggled to respond. In the final minutes, UNC visibly slowed its pace of play to drain out the clock before Kelly delivered the hammer.
Her 3-pointer with 1:16 to play, gave the Tar Heels a 12-point lead at 46-44. WVU called a 30-second timeout, to which Kelly yelled and threw her fist in celebration.
With the victory, North Carolina moves on to face rival and No. 2 seed Duke on Friday in the Sweet 16 in Birmingham, Alabama — roughly 10 miles from Kelly’s hometown of Hoover, Alabama.
“The initial reaction, I’m just really happy for the seniors… [and] obviously, going back home is going to be great,” Kelly said. “I’m going to have so much support and I’m really excited.”
The Blue Devils advanced Sunday with a 59-53 win over former North Carolina guard Deja Kelly and No. 10 seed Oregon.
The longtime ACC rivals will be meeting in the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Duke and UNC are 1-1 in matchups so far this season. North Carolina won the first game, 53-46, in Chapel Hill in January. The Blue Devils avenged that loss with a 68-53 victory in February — although the Tar Heels are quick to point out they were without Ustby or Kelly in that game.
“We knew we were missing pieces, important pieces to our to our team,” Nivar said on Monday, “but now having them I’m filled with confidence that we’re able to get it done.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2025 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Moving on: UNC women outlast West Virginia, will face rival Duke in NCAA Sweet 16."