Chapel Hill, N.C.

The women’s basketball team of North Carolina finished their home nonconference games with a 96-36 victory against Western Carolina on Friday evening at Carmichael. Four players scored in double digits, with senior Alyssa Ustby matching her personal record of 23 points. The Tar Heels had a season-high shooting percentage of 51.9% from the field.

UNC, ranked 25th, has a record of 7-4 going into their last nonconference game of the season. They will face Oklahoma on Tuesday evening in Charlotte for the Jumpman Invitational.

In the game against the Catamounts, the Tar Heels’ sophomore Paulina Paris scored 16 points by making 6 out of 8 shots, despite returning to the court after missing two games due to injury. Another sophomore, Indya Nivar, contributed 15 points while coming off the bench and making 7 out of 8 field goal attempts. Junior Maria Gakdeng also had a strong performance, scoring 10 points for the third game in a row.

Carolina received a significant contribution from Teonni Key, a redshirt sophomore, who tallied seven points and recorded a personal best of 10 rebounds in her first game of the season following her recovery from an injury.

The Tar Heels maintained the lead throughout the game, achieving their biggest margin of victory this season. Along with their highest field goal percentage of the season, UNC also recorded season highs in assists (24) and steals (16) and matched their season high for blocks with seven. The team also had its lowest number of turnovers (six) and fouls (four) for the season.

The University of North Carolina had a rebounding advantage of 26 over the Catamounts, with a score of 50-24. Following Key’s 10 rebounds, Ustby secured nine and graduate student Lexi Donarski achieved a season-best of seven, just one short of her personal record.

Ustby also had a team-leading six assists, matching her personal best, and four steals for UNC.

Audrey Meyers was the top scorer for Western Carolina (2-9) with a total of 13 points.

Source: wralsportsfan.com