UNC Women’s Basketball hosts Florida State amidst a five-game winning streak

The Tar Heels celebrate Alumni Day and National Girls and Women in Sports Day prior to their game.

Lexi Donarski in the Jumpman Invitational
Lexi Donarski in the Jumpman Invitational | Matt Kelley/GettyImages

North Carolina women’s basketball is cruising through a stacked ACC, riding a five-game winning streak into their game versus Florida State. 

The No. 13-ranked Tar Heels kicked off their winning streak back on January 9 when they defeated Duke 53-46 in overtime. North Carolina hasn’t looked back since their instant-classic win over their rival, stringing together wins over Boston College, SMU, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest. The Tar Heels are a true force to be reckoned with — having not lost in 20 days.

North Carolina will also celebrate Alumni Day and National Girls and Women in Sports Day prior to their game. The event will take place from 10-11:30 a.m. at the Bill Koman Practice Complex.

GoHeels gave an in-depth description of the annual event.

“Young Tar Heel fans are invited to join the Carolina women's sports teams for 2025 UNC National Girls & Women in Sports Day, an annual event to highlight women's athletics at Carolina, brought to you by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and Carolina Athletics…The day's event is intended for girls and boys pre-K through eighth grade.”

Hopefully the special day is capped off with a big UNC victory over Florida State.

2024-2025 Season

North Carolina Tar Heels

Overall record: 18-3
Conference Record: 6-2
Home Record: 10-2
Away Record: 4-0
Neutral Site Record: 4-1

Florida State Seminoles

Overall record: 15-4
Conference Record: 5-2
Home Record: 11-0
Away Record: 1-4
Neutral Site Record: 3-0

Key Players

North Carolina

Alyssa Ustby (Gr. Guard/Forward) – 11.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists
Maria Gakdeng (Sr. Forward/Center) – 10.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.2 blocks
Lexi Donarski (Gr. Guard) – 9.9 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists

Florida State

Ta’Niya Latson (Jr. Guard) – 26.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists
Makayla Timpson (Sr. Forward) – 17.5 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.1 blocks
O’Mariah Gordon (Sr. Guard) – 16.1 points, 3.9 assists, 2.8 steals

Keys to Victory for North Carolina

Slow down FSU’s big three

Up to this point, North Carolina is certainly the superior team to Florida State. However, the Seminoles’ scoring power is some of the very best in the nation and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Florida State’s big three in Latson, Timpson and Gordon combine for a ridiculous 60 points per contest on average. Latson’s 26.6 points per game leads the entire nation, and each member of the Seminoles’ trio ranks in the top 11 for ACC scoring.

Let’s put the Seminoles’ high-powered offense in perspective. As a team, the Seminoles average a blistering 92 points per game — good for second most in the entire country and nearly 20 points more than UNC averages.

North Carolina needs to slow down the stampeding Seminoles, preventing Florida State from dictating the fast-paced, high-scoring style they want to play.

Something to Watch for

This will be a clash of elite offense from Florida State versus elite defense from North Carolina. Something’s got to give, so which play style will prevail?

North Carolina has fully bought into their gritty, hard-nosed style of team basketball. The Tar Heels aren’t the most efficient offensively, but they’re going to lock teams down with their suffocating defense. North Carolina ranks No. 9 nationally in points allowed per game, only giving up 53 points on average. Now that’s some world-class team defense.

Whether it’s big-time rim protection from Gakdeng and Blanca Thomas, or swarming perimeter defense from Ustby, Donarski, Indya Nivar, Reniya Kelly and Grace Townsend, UNC makes life difficult on opponents.

The main storyline for the Tar Heels will be: hopefully good defense beats good offense.

Projected Starters

No. 1 Alyssa Ustby (Gr. 6'1)
No. 5 Maria Gakdeng (Sr. 6'3)
No. 10 Reniya Kelly (So. 5'7)
No. 20 Lexi Donarski (Gr. 6'0)
No. 24 Indya Nivar (Jr. 5'10)

Schedule

Schedule