UNC women's basketball survives N.C. State with bench's fourth quarter performance

As Grace Townsend dribbled down the court with the game in her hands, head coach Courtney Banghart called to her from the bench. 

“Go!” she shouted.  

The one word was enough confirmation for Townsend to attack her defender. She made a crossover move to get to the rim before drawing a foul in North Carolina’s final possession. 

“‘I just gotta go,’” Townsend said. “That was my only thought.”

Townsend made both ensuing free throws to lift the Tar Heels past N.C. State in the final five seconds of the game. 

Townsend's game-winning trip to the line — along with four fourth-quarter points from first-year guard Lanie Grant — helped No. 12 North Carolina defeat No. 10 N.C. State, 66-65. It was UNC's bench that stepped up after graduate froward Alyssa Ustby went to the locker room due to an apparent lower-body injury. The bench scored the game's last six points and forced a stop to defeat the Wolfpack as time expired. 

“We don't have [Ustby], but then you look around at who you have,” Banghart said before later adding, “They found a way.” 

Ustby hobbled to the locker room three minutes after tip-off and never returned. The Tar Heels lost their leading scorer and rebounder before she attempted a shot. 

In her absence, starters Reniya Kelly, Maria Gakdeng and Lexi Donarksi combined for 43 points. It was Kelly's 23-point performance that spearheaded the charge.

“We hate State,” Kelly said. “I had to come out and play my best and my hardest.” 

But late in the fourth quarter — after Donarski tweaked her ankle and starting junior guard Indya Nivar fouled out — UNC looked to its bench for someone to step up. 

Enter Grant. 

She played a season-high 33 minutes in place of Ustby and handled the ball for much of the second half. And when the Tar Heels trailed by five, with a minute and a half remaining, Grant took over.

She began by muscling her way through the lane before drawing a shooting foul. She made both free throws. 

Grant then ran back on defense, got in position and drew a charge on the following Wolfpack possession. When she got the ball back, she had no hesitation driving to the basket, this time finishing a layup in the congested paint. 

When Banghart was asked what stuck out to her about Grant's fourth-quarter heroics, she opted for a word to describe her character instead. 

“Fearlessness,” Banghart said. 

Grant's four-point flurry brought North Carolina within one point of the Wolfpack. After getting a stop on the other end, UNC had an opportunity to take the lead with 11.7 seconds left. 

Then came Townsend. 

In a play designed to use Kelly and her 23 points as a decoy, Banghart intended for it to be in Townsend's hands all the way. 

The head coach stationed herself next to the referee, ready to call a timeout if the guard got in trouble. The Richmond transfer drove downhill and produced the free throws as a result. 

“When I took my second dribble after the [hesitation] I knew there was no chance [of passing],” Townsend said. 

It was six straight points from Grant and Townsend that lifted UNC into the lead over the final two minutes. North Carolina was then able to seal the game with a defensive stop, preventing N.C. State from even attempting a game-winner. 

Despite the many setbacks, it wasn't enough to prevent North Carolina from clawing its way back to its first top-10 win of the season, thanks to the bench's fourth quarter performance. 

“With a lot going against them,” Banghart said, “they just kept going.”

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