Following a thrilling victory over Florida State in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, the UNC women's basketball program will play for the third consecutive day as they match up with in-state foe NC State in the semifinal round.
It wasn't long ago that these two teams met in Chapel Hill, a game that was won by the Tar Heels. Even with Alyssa Ustby playing just three minutes, the Tar Heels got the job done.
NC State wasted no time harboring on the loss, as they've strung together five consecutive victories since. One was over then-ranked No. 1 Notre Dame, a win that helped the Wolfpack secure a share of the ACC regular season crown.
The stakes are once again high as these two teams meet again, this time with a ACC Tournament finals appearance on the line.
2024-2025 Regular Season
North Carolina Tar Heels
Overall record: 26-6
Conference Record: 13-5
Home Record: 12-4
Away Record: 9-1
Neutral Site Record: 4-1
NC State Wolfpack
Overall record: 25-5
Conference Record: 16-2
Home Record: 16-0
Away Record: 7-3
Neutral Site Record: 2-2
Key Players (With Regular Season Stats)
North Carolina
Maria Gakdeng (Sr. Forward/Center) – 11.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.2 blocks
Alyssa Ustby (Gr. Guard/Forward) – 10.7 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists
Reniya Kelly (So. Guard) – 10.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists
NC State
Aziaha James (Sr. Guard) - 18.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists
Zoe Brooks (So. Guard) - 14.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists
Saniya Rivers (Sr. Guard) - 11.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists
Last Meeting
On February 16, the UNC women's basketball program pulled off a thrilling 66-65 victory over NC State at Carmichael Arena.
Reniya Kelly guided the Tar Heels to victory, scoring a game-high 23 points. While NC State out-rebounded the Tar Heels by 20, North Carolina's defense forced 20 turnovers, a huge momentum shift to help them secure the victory.
Keys to Victory for North Carolina
Avoid a long offensive drought!
In both ACC Tournament games, North Carolina started extremely hot. They built a 11-point lead over Boston College right out of the gate, and held a 10-point lead over Florida State after one quarter of play in the quarterfinals.
Both of those leads evaporated, as the Tar Heels went on a bit of a scoring drought.
Against the Seminoles, the Tar Heels missed their first 14, yes, 14, shots from the floor in the second quarter, managing to just score five total points over the frame.
If they want to advance to the ACC Tournament finals, they must do everything in their power to avoid long periods of offensive struggles.
Something to Watch for
NC State only saw a full-staffed UNC women's basketball team for three minutes.
Leading up to Saturday's game, the Tar Heels seem to be at full staff (even though the likes of Alyssa Ustby and Reniya Kelly are likely not 100%). Ustby's return is interesting, especially given the rebounding margin that the Wolfpack had in the first meeting.
The combination of Ustby and Maria Gakdeng combined for 34 rebounds on Friday. Can the duo make life difficult for NC State as they look to have another rebounding edge in the rematch between the two squads?