Tag: NCAA Womens Basketball

Deja Kelly named to All-ACC first team

North Carolina Tar Heel Deja Kelly has been named to the All-ACC first team for the second year.

North Carolina women’s basketball star [autotag]Deja Kelly[/autotag] has earned a spot on the All-ACC first team for the second year.

The San Antonio, Texas, junior guard has become a household name nationwide, collecting accolades throughout the season. In October, Kelly was named the Phil Knight Invitational MVP. Kelly dominated the tournament. She delivered a memorable performance against Iowa State, finishing with 29 points and eight rebounds.

Kelly has been a great scoring option for UNC, often being the circled player on opposing team charts. Her best performance came in early February against Syracuse, where she had her season-high 32 points on an effective 52% from the field.

Kelly was posed to have a big year, which has shown as her field goal percentage improved and increased assists per game. In addition, Kelly leads UNC in scoring, averaging 16.5 points per game.

The junior will be counted on in the postseason, with North Carolina heading into the tournament as a top 20 team in the nation.

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UNC women to play Thursday in ACC Tournament

North Carolina women’s basketball team is scheduled to play Thursday in the ACC Tournament.

The North Carolina women’s basketball program will be in action Thursday as they compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

UNC finished the regular season with a 20-9 overall record. Seven of those nine losses came in ACC, where they finished with an 11-7 record.

North Carolina enters the ACC tournament as the seventh seed. Despite a low seeding, it is more telling about how strong the conference is than UNC plays this season. UNC not only beat the top seed in the tournament Notre Dame, but they also swept the third seed Duke Blue Devils.

North Carolina did get a high enough seed that they do not have to play on Wednesday, as they await the winner of Clemson/Pitt.

North Carolina will be at full strength heading into the postseason with star player Alyssa Utsby returning into the lineup. Utsby led the Tar Heels in rebounds this season, averaging 8.7 rebounds. In addition, star guard Deja Kelly led the team in points averaging 16.5 this season.

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UNC women’s basketball slides back into the top 20 in latest AP Poll

North Carolina back in the top 20 of this weeks AP Poll.

The North Carolina women’s basketball team is back in the top 20 of this weeks AP poll.

UNC slid up four spots in a week after splitting 1-1 in games played. The loss came against No. 8 Virginia Tech, a game that started hot for North Carolina but ended cold, losing 61-59. However, the Tar Heels bounced back in their second game, beating Duke in a low scoring 45-41 win, giving UNC a season sweep.

North Carolina is back at full strength with the return of Alyssa Ustby and the emergence of Kayla McPherson. North Carolina finished the regular season 20-9, going 11-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were most dominant at home, posting a 13-2 record in the Carmichael arena.

Next up for North Carolina is the ACC tournament. The Heels are the No. 7 team and will play the winner of Clemson/Pitt on Thursday.

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UNC women’s basketball drops out of the top 20 in latest AP Poll

North Carolina drops out of the top 20 in the latest AP Poll.

The North Carolina women’s basketball program has dropped out of the top 20 in the AP Poll after playing 1-1 in games last week.

UNC will play their two final games of the regular season this week against notable teams Virginia and Duke Blue Devils. The biggest reason for the drop is the NC State 77-66 win over UNC in overtime. Although the Wolf pack holds an 11-3 home record, they are the third unranked team that North Carolina lost to in February.

This week will significantly impact UNC’s AP poll ranking and ACC/NCAA tournament seeding.

A big help to UNC’s efforts at finishing the regular season strong is Alyssa Ustby, who hinted on Instagram that she could return after being sidelined for the last five games with an injury.

Ustby is a pivotal player in North Carolina’s rotation, and her presence has been missed, with UNC going 2-3 without her during that span. On the season, Ustby averages 13.6 points per game, leading North Carolina in rebounds with 8.9 per game.

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UNC women’s basketball team moves up five spots in the AP Top 25 poll

The North Carolina women’s basketball team moves up five spots to No. 8th ranked in the AP Top 25 poll.

The North Carolina women’s basketball team has been flourishing this season and is now seeing some of that paid off by moving up to the eighth spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

UNC started the season ranked 13th and quickly moved up five spots after their 4-0 start. In those four games, North Carolina did not just slide by…they dominated. They are averaging 83.8 points while holding opposing teams to a 49.3-point average per game.

A key factor to the team’s success has been their lockdown defense and decisive decision-making, averaging 17.7 assists per game. UNC’s defense has been stout, forcing an average of 21.0 turnovers per game.

The team came in with much hype and has lived up to it so far. However, the competition has not been noteworthy. That will change on Thanksgiving when they travel to take on No. 18 Oregon. It will be interesting to see if UNC can deliver a statement game against a top team.

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Deja Kelly gifts teammates and coaches with NIL deal

UNC Basketball’s Deja Kelly uses Beats by Dre NIL deal and shares with her teammates and coaches.

As one of the most popular hoopers in college basketball, [autotag]Deja Kelly[/autotag] has racked up plenty of NIL deals and has recently spread that love to her team.

Coach Courtney Banghart took to Instagram and posted a message, thanking  Kelly for gifting the team their own Beats headphones.

It was announced that Kelly inked the deal with headphone empire, Beats by Dre, back in March, adding to her impressive list of NIL endorsements. Last season, the sophomore helped lead the UNC women’s basketball team to the Sweet 16, where they fell just short, 61-69 to the eventual national champions, South Carolina.

Kelly broke out as a star for the Tar Heels as Banghart has really turned this program around and now expectations are high going into the coming season.

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Last season, Kelly averaged 16.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. Her best game of the season came against Clemson, where Kelly dropped 31 points, going 5 for 11 from three.

Going into next season, UNC is expected to tack on more success using the momentum from last season. Kelly is anticipated to have another break-out year. And if that happens, the Tar Heels should find themselves threatening to get past the Sweet 16.

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LOOK: Texas women’s basketball practices in beautiful outdoor bubble court overlooking the city

It’s so beautiful that you’ll be questioning whether it’s real.

This was too beautiful to not share. Continue reading “LOOK: Texas women’s basketball practices in beautiful outdoor bubble court overlooking the city”

Columbus, Ohio named finalist for 2025 or 2026 Women’s Final Four

Columbus, Ohio, most likely at Nationwide Arena, has been named a finalist for either the 2025 or 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four.

Columbus, Ohio has been named a finalist for either the 2025 or 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four. If it were to be selected, all the magic would take place at Nationwide Arena.

This is a huge development for Columbus. After hosting the finale at Nationwide in 2018, there must have been quite a bit of positive feedback for the city to have its name on the list once again so quickly.

If the Arch City is granted the 2025 spot, the women’s final would be in Ohio for two straight years, having already been given to Cleveland in 2024.

The other three finalists include Tampa, Phoenix, and Portland. Tampa has an extensive history of hosting the event — having landed it in 2008, 2015, and 2019.

While nothing is for certain, it would be pretty neat to have the Final Four back in Columbus.