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

It was only a matter of time!

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

For the first time this season, Tar Heel fans saw old-timers Donarski and Ustby at the same time. The veteran leaders combined to score 28 of the Tar Heels’ 53 points and came out on top with a somewhat dominant performance.

Let’s start with Donarski, who hit six of her nine shots from the ground. Not only did she thrive offensively, but she also played a big role in limiting Villanova’s leading scorer, Jasmine Bascoe, to two points (both came from the free throw line). Averaging 16.6 points per game, Bascoe missed all seven of her shot attempts and turned the ball over six times, a difficult feat for the very talented freshman.

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

Ustby made six of her eight shots overall and finished the game with 14 points to go and 14 rebounds. Her high intensity and motor skills were put to good use as she often fought for loose balls and made plays that simply didn’t show up on the stat line.

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

Now North Carolina looks to finish the Battle 4 Atlantis strong and hopes to return to Chapel Hill with a tournament championship on its resume.