Gray's passionate play brings UNC women's basketball back to win

After the No. 17 North Carolina women’s basketball team’s 71-63 come-from-behind victory over No. 7 Florida State on Thursday, one person dominated conversations among the reporters in the media room at Carmichael Arena.

Allisha Gray.

“Allisha Gray was on fire in the second half,” exclaimed a camera operator as he set up his equipment.

“She was just playing out of her mind,” said another, as he awaited the arrival of players and coaches for the post-game presser.

While staring at the final box score, another reporter’s voice could be heard across the room as he gawked at her stats — 13 points and five rebounds — in the final five minutes and 36 seconds. She had 22 on the night. 

Minutes later, the sophomore guard — her white headband still wrapped around her head and the same stone-cold blank stare, the one on display as she fueled her team’s comeback, on her face — walked into the room and took her seat behind a table to answer questions.

“Allisha, earlier in the game, you were picking up some fouls,” asks one reporter, referencing the two early fouls called on Gray in the second half that produced the scowl on her face. “How did you use that to turn in what we saw in the last six minutes?

“Those little fouls actually made me angry,” said Gray, as the longstanding grimace turned to her usual smile. “And then I took it out on them in the second half. So that kind of gave me a boost from them calling all of them little touchy fouls. They kind of lit a fire under me and made me kind of angry.

“I don’t usually get angry. But they made me angry.”

And on Thursday, the Seminoles couldn’t handle Gray when she was angry.

With 17:09 remaining in the second half and the Tar Heels trailing 37-30, Gray was called for a push off as she drove toward the basket.

The play evoked the typically stoic guard to exchange words with the referee and ignited her fuse.

After scoring only seven points through nearly 34 minutes of play, Gray hauled in an offensive rebound on a missed jumper by N’Dea Bryant and fought through the arms of two defenders to make a layup while being fouled.

Gray converted the old-fashioned 3-point play, sparking her 15-point run in the game’s final minutes and cutting the Seminoles’ lead to 57-52.

Moments later, Gray received the ball in transition on the right side of the floor, slickly dragged her feet behind the 3-point line and let the ball fly.

The ball bounced gently against the rim before falling through the hoop, tying the game at 57 apiece with nearly four minutes remaining and inducing a fist pump from Gray.

She’d score eight straight points for the Tar Heels, giving UNC a 62-61 lead — its first in the second half — and single-handedly motivating her teammates and the fans in Carmichael Arena.

“That’s something Allisha always does. It was kind of expected,” said sophomore Hillary Summers about Gray’s offensive outburst. “It just got everybody else hyped up. She just lifted the team up.”

The Tar Heels and Seminoles battled back and forth, exchanging single-digit leads for the next two minutes.

But with 54 seconds remaining and UNC leading by one, Gray swept in out of nowhere to force a steal on the defensive end of the floor and took the ball the length of the floor for a layup that eventually sealed the victory for the Tar Heels.

The bucket gave Gray her game-high 22 points, and her teammates rushed toward her at midcourt to embrace her.

“She’s just rock solid. There’s no ups and downs,” Coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “She’s always the same. But she loves to win, loves to compete. She’s a very, very skilled player.

“She gets her focus and makes up her mind about something, and she gets it done.”

sports@dailytarheel.com