North Carolina remained undefeated (6-0) whereas claiming the Phil Knight Invitational title over Thanksgiving weekend with two spectacular come-from-behind top-20 wins over Oregon and Iowa State. The Tar Heels had been rewarded with a transfer up of two spots within the newest Related Press top-25 ballot to No. 6 general whereas being named NCAA.com Group of the Week.
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North Carolina began the week by rallying from a 12-point deficit to tug out an 85-79 win over No. 18 Oregon on Thursday in Portland, Oregon. Enjoying in entrance a neutral-but-leaning-Oregon crowd and with Knight himself sitting courtside, all 5 Tar Heel starters hit double figures, led by senior Eva Hodgson’s 21. Alyssa Ustby scored 19, Deja Kelly 17, Anya Poole 11 and Kennedy Todd-Williams 10.
Hogdson, whose 21 factors marked her excessive as a Tar Heel, made each shot she took within the fourth quarter together with three 3-pointers and 5 free throws for 14 factors within the interval. The senior guard hit a 3 in entrance of her bench, took the foul after which made a free throw for a four-point play that put North Carolina up 72-69 with 5:12 remaining, a lead the Tar Heels by no means surrendered. Hodgson, who performed her first two years at William & Mary, had beforehand logged a 34-point recreation whereas enjoying there.
RANKINGS: View the most recent girls’s basketball AP ballot
The Tar Heels then fought again from a 17-point deficit to beat No. 5 Iowa State 73-64 Sunday night on the Moda Heart within the championship recreation of the Invitational. Kelly led the Tar Heels with 29 factors, 22 of them after halftime, and was named the event MVP. Todd-Williams scored 17, all within the second half, Ustby had 14 and Hodgson 11 because the Tar Heels got here again from a halftime deficit for the third straight recreation to win.
North Carolina began the season ranked twelfth within the preseason Related Press ballot, which was the best preseason rating for the Tar Heels’ in additional than seven years, for the reason that center of the 2014-15 season.
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North Carolina strikes on shortly to a different problem as they subsequent play at No. 5 Indiana on Thursday, Dec. 1 within the ACC-Huge Ten Problem.
