UNC Basketball: Tar Heel women fall to Wake Forest in ACC Tournament

The UNC women’s basketball program lost a tough one to Wake Forest in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

Wake Forest freshman guard Jewel Spear was an absolute star in Greensboro on Thursday afternoon, pouring in a game-high and career-high 29 points that helped the Demon Deacons top the North Carolina Tar Heels by a final score of 82-71 in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

Spear knocked down 10-of-15 shots for the game, including a career-best seven three-pointers. She added four rebounds, three blocks and three steals in a game-high 39 minutes of play. Ivana Raca scored 21 points, and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, while Gina Conti gave the Demon Deacons a 13-point, 12-assist double-double.

Wake Forest shot a blistering 52.7 percent for the game, and 58.8 percent from three-point range. The Demon Deacons also converted 14-of-15 free throw attempts, and withstood a big third quarter run by the Tar Heels, which briefly put them in front of Wake Forest. That was before a strong finish to the third quarter by Wake Forest, and a commanding fourth quarter which left no doubt who’d be participating in tomorrow’s tournament games, and who’d be going home.

North Carolina was led by freshman guard Alyssa Ustby, whose 23-point, nine-rebound performance kept the Tar Heels in the game. She connected on 11-of-17 shots for the game, while adding two assists and two steals in 36 minutes on the court. Deja Kelly gave the Tar Heels 19 points and four rebounds, and Stephanie Watts scored 15. Senior center Janelle Bailey had a 12-point, 10-rebound performance in her final ACC Tournament game.

North Carolina hit 26-of-64 shots for the game, and just 4-of-16 from three-point range (25 percent). The Tar Heels’ struggles from beyond the arc — and inability to stop Wake Forest from draining 10 three-pointers on the day — along with some costly late-game turnovers, were the biggest reasons for their second round loss to Wake on Thursday.

The good news for the Tar Heels is that they appear to be safely in the women’s NCAA Tournament field. They were projected as a 9-seed prior to today’s game, and will probably only drop one line, at most, when the brackets are revealed on Monday, March 15.

Check back with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the UNC women’s basketball program.