Reniya Kelly named the ACC Player of the Week following back-to-back 20-point games

Following consecutive 20+ point outings, Reniya Kelly has been named the ACC Player of the Week. The sophomore guard becomes the first Tar Heel to earn the award this season.

The UNC women's basketball program's guard was instrumental in the Tar Heels two victories this past week.

Kelly opened the week with 20 points on 7-for-14 shooting, leading North Carolina to a 67-62 win over Virginia Tech. In Sunday’s 66-65 win over No. 10-ranked NC State, the Hoover, Alabama native posted a career-high 23 points and knocked down five 3-pointers to lead North Carolina to its first top-10 victory of the 2024-2025 season.

What makes her performance against NC State even more impressive is how she essentially took over the scoring load throughout the game. With Alyssa Ustby, the team's leading scorer coming into the game, being sidelined due to injury, Kelly got into a groove early and consistently made an impact on both ends of the floor, sparking her team to a huge victory against a top-10 ranked in-state rival.

Kelly's development has been a major factor in the success of the UNC women's basketball program this season. She has shown why Courtney Banghart and the Tar Heels coaching staff were so high on her even before she arrived on campus, as she's a game changer putting herself in the conversation among the conference's top guards.

Reniya Kelly looks to keep her recent success going when she leads the UNC women's basketball program on Thursday night on the road against Syracuse.