Donarski and Ustby lead UNC women’s basketball to the Battle 4 Atlantis final

It was only a matter of time!

Behind outstanding performances from Lexi Donarski and Alyssa Ustby, the UNC women’s basketball program defeated Villanova to earn a spot in Monday’s Battle 4 Atlantis championship game. The Tar Heels will take on Indiana, who is coming off a win over No. 18 Baylor.

For the first time this season, Tar Heel fans saw vintage Donarski and Ustby at the same time. The veteran leaders combined for 28 of the Tar Heels’ 53 points to lead what was a fairly dominant effort.

Let’s start with Donarski, who connected on six of his nine shots from the floor. She not only thrived offensively, but played a big role in limiting Villanova’s leading scorer, Jasmine Bascoe, to two points (both of which came from the free throw line). With an average of 16.6 points per game, Bascoe missed all seven of his shot attempts and turned the ball over six times, a tough outing for the very talented freshman.

After recording a double-double in the Battle 4 Atlantis opener against Ball State, Ustby was back again on Sunday, but this time Ustby only needed one half to record a double-double!

Ustby made six of his eight shots overall and finished the game with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Her high intensity and motor skills were on good display as she often fought for loose balls and made the plays that just don’t show up on the stat line.

Overall, the Tar Heels defense was outstanding. They held Villanova to just 23.5% from the floor and forced 21 turnovers along the way. As we mentioned in our preview, the Wildcats only turned the ball over seven times in their Battle 4 Atlantis opener, so being able to disrupt their offensive flow was a huge aspect of this game.

Now, North Carolina aims to finish the Battle 4 Atlantis strong in hopes of returning to Chapel Hill with a tournament championship on their resume.