LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Trayanna Crisp scored 19 points, including a go-ahead jumper with 35 seconds left, freshman Lanie Grant added a career-high 19 and No. 9 North Carolina earned a 79-75 comeback victory over Louisville on Sunday.
Louisville (19-8, 12-4) dominated early and maintained the lead until Grant hit a four-point play with 2:28 remaining. Louisville regained the lead twice in the next minute, but North Carolina scored the final six points.
Louisville shot just 25-64 (39.1%) from the field, and even though they out-rebounded UNC 42-27 in the game, it was not enough to fend off the Tar Heels.
Jayda Curry led the Cardinals with 18 points.
The Tar Heels (25-4, 13-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) were down by 12 with 2:25 left in the first quarter and trailed for more than 36 minutes. However, they went 8 for 10 in the fourth quarter and shot 68% (17 of 25) after halftime to extend their winning streak to seven.
The Tar Heels played without wing Alyssa Ustby, who missed her second game after suffering a knee injury against N.C. State last week.
Takeaways
Louisville: The Cardinals had a chance to take third place in the ACC and beat their fourth straight ranked foe. However, second-half defensive letdowns spoiled that after the Tar Heels scored 50 points in the second half.
North Carolina: Crisp and Grant stepped up from the bench for the Tar Heels, who were without Ustby, their leading rebounder, and senior Maria Gakdeng, who fouled out with 4:35 left.
Key moment
The Cardinals had two chances in the final seconds to force overtime or get the win, but Curry forced a bad pass in the lane for a turnover with 10 seconds left. She also missed a 3-pointer with 6 seconds remaining.
Up next
The Cards will stay in Louisville for their last home game of the season against Clemson on Thursday, Feb. 27 at the KFC Yum! Center. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ACC Network.
