Breaking The Silence: North Carolina defeats Duke on Senior Night

Four seniors stood centre stage amidst a cacophony, in what could potentially be the last home game for seniors Deja Kelly, Alyssa Ustby, Anya Poole, and Alexandra Zelaya. They stood carrying the weight of a storied past and a bright future.

The crowd of Carolina Blue swallowed the darker shades of Duke at that moment. While the four waved their framed jerseys high and proud, fervent applause before the ball was even tipped foretold a win that came to be, with the Tar Heels trumping the Blue Devils 63-59 on Sunday afternoon.

“Carmichael was on fire,” said Coach Banghart.

The team and everyone in the crowd understood the significance of this game: the final home game of the season, a quest for revenge after suffering a loss in overtime at Cameron Indoor, and a departure for some of the greatest players to pick up a basketball in Carmichael Arena.

After such a victory on what is a historic night for many in the program, it's only logical that one of the standout seniors make themselves available for media duties, so journalists can hopefully extract the euphoric post-match feeling and convert it into an emotional tale of this night. Yet Banghart understood what savouring this moment meant for those seniors.

“These guys are student-athletes, their whole families are here,” said Banghart. “I mean, I can't even get them, there's so many pictures and autographs wanted, and that's what this is about.”

“If it's critical, we can make them available another day, but I'm just so proud of the seniors, I'm so happy that they're being loved the way they deserve in Carmichael.”

Lexi Donarski, a recent graduate transfer from Iowa State, offered herself to the media, allowing the others to bask in their moment.

“It’s a unique situation since I am a grad student so it is a little different,” Donarski said, “they’re some of my closest friends and I've only known them for what, eight, nine months? It's just crazy the impact that we've had on each other's lives in this short time, and I'm thankful for getting to know and play with all of them.”

“It’s a special class.”

Special may deceptively be an understatement. Star guard duo Alyssa Ustby and Deja Kelly were recently named to the United States Basketball Writers Association Women’s Player of the Year and All-America watchlist after their play this season. Both Kelly and Ustby stood at the top of the hill as National Players of the Week this season as well.

Leaders of the team on and off the court, their impact at Chapel Hill and on the hardwood at Carmichael transcends from the players to the fans.

“Coach always says they're relentless, they're tough, and it's true,” Donarski said, “those are the type of people you want to play with and a big reason why I came to Carolina, I wanted to play with them along with the rest of the girls that were here.”

Such relentlessness was more than palpable on Sunday.

The fourth quarter of this game was a dogfight between two teams hell-bent on a generational rivalry. Though the Tar Heels maintained the lead all through the period, they were at no point allowed the luxury of setting their foot off the gas and soaking in the memory of a final triumph at home.

One minute fifty left, on the back of two missed free throws, the score 53-57, Reigan Richardson of Duke stepped confidently into a mid-range pull-up, the swish of the net deafening to everyone except the Duke bench and its fanatics behind.

Desperate to quell the noise and snatch back momentum, the ball was placed in the hands of Kelly. Five seconds remained on the shot clock after a Duke interception, off a screen by fellow senior Alexandra Zeleya, Kelly pounded the ball with urgency through the jaws of a double team stepping into a mid-ranger, its release messy and uncomfortable.

The ball took eternities to find its mark, rolling over the rim and pounding the backboard. The crowd came to a halt, unable to unearth the words needed to describe their anticipation.

Bucket.

Momentum rolled back into the fans and players alike as pandemonium struck.

An onslaught of free throws for both sides left the game at 59-61 with 9.6 seconds on the clock. Duke guard Taina Mar was left at the line with a free throw attempt to bring it within one.

A wall of Tar Heels stood behind the basket deploying as much noise and wiggle of their hands as they could. Mar rimmed the attempt but the monolithic figure of Kennedy Brown standing at 6 foot 6 absorbed the rebound throwing up a lay to tie the game.

Ustby, a much smaller 6ft1, was Brown’s challenger. With both hands held in the air, she found a way to shield the basket, denying Brown’s attempt and effectively sealing the game.

Ustby, a staple of this team, isn’t unfamiliar with producing such impactful moments. “I showed some film to Alyssa before the game reminding her that she impacts the game in so many ways,” Banghart said, “if she was in a scoring drought for a game, that doesn't matter.”

“She impacts the game in so many ways. I showed her the various things: playmaking, rebounding, blocking, stealing, shooting, driving, isoing.”

The whistle blew, and Kelly met to chest bump teammate Maria Gakdeng, happiness not just for her team but her friends who were potentially leaving swept the floor.

“It was a surreal experience being a part of the biggest rivalry in college sports,” Gakdeng said. “To not only play but to win and honour our seniors who've helped impact women's basketball at Carolina was just a wild feeling!”

“Seeing the support Lys, Deja, Z, and Anya garnered over the years and celebrating what they've earned in front of a sold-out crowd was unreal.”

A packed-out Carmichael had seen the toppling of their fiercest foes at the hands of this team, something even Banghart couldn’t come to grips with.

While driving in for the game Banghart was able to witness the fans outside the arena. “I can't even tell you the line, I tried to take a picture or video of it, but I was driving and that's not safe.”

“I'm grateful for how much this team is loved.”

END