When junior forward Alyssa Ustby woke up Thursday, she felt like she had been hit by a bus. But that wasn’t going to stop her from playing against Duke.
On Thursday night, there was no sign of how poorly Ustby felt that morning in No. 17 North Carolina’s 61-56 win over the No. 13 Blue Devils. The Minnesota native played all but one minute of the game, scoring 16 points and adding five rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.
“There was really nothing stopping me from playing, because I don’t want to miss out on something so special,” Ustby said. “The Duke-Carolina rivalry doesn’t happen very often, especially when you’re playing at home with a great crowd. I would be even more sick if I couldn’t play.”
Initially, Ustby had no clue why she felt bad. She texted Jodi Schneider, the team’s athletic trainer, to figure out what she needed to do in order to play and went through a multitude of tests, all of which came back negative. In the end, Schneider concluded that Ustby was just dehydrated.
Two liters of saline later, she was rejuvenated. Still, as a precaution, Ustby didn’t participate in practice or shoot around with her team.
“My body was just aching,” Ustby said. “I was like, ‘I’m just going to save my energy for the game because I don’t know how much I’m going to have.’”
In the end, it wasn't a problem. After the game, she felt she could run for days.
Her energy was never more evident than in the third quarter, when her team needed it most.
UNC and Duke were tied at 21 when the quarter began. But when it ended, North Carolina led 40-31, thanks in part to Ustby scoring 10 points and going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field.
