STANFORD, Calif. – Nunu Agara had 22 points and 14 rebounds, but her game-tying shot on the Cardinal’s final possession didn’t fall and Stanford lost at home to No. 15 North Carolina on Sunday, 69-67.
Stanford (11-10, 3-7) was down a dozen early in the fourth quarter before reeling off a 12-0 run to tie the game at 62 with 3:52 to go. The spurt was punctuated with an old-fashioned 3-point play from freshman Kennedy Umeh, who had eight points and four rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench.
The Tar Heels (20-4, 8-3) answered with a 7-0 run of their own to go up 69-62, but Agara had an and-1 and layup in the final 90 seconds to give Stanford a chance. Inbounding across from the Cardinal bench with eight seconds left, Agara drove right against UNC’s Alyssa Ustby, but her final attempt with less than a second was no good.
Down by as many as 15 in the second half, Stanford nearly pulled off the comeback thanks to an 18-of-19 effort at the line. Chloe Clardy had 15 points and three steals and Elena Bosgana played the full 40 minutes tasked with guarding the Tar Heels’ sharpshooter Lexi Donarski. Donarski, who had made 54 triples at a 41.2 percent clip coming into the game, didn’t make one from deep for the first time this season.
Umeh’s defense in the second half was pivotal in the comeback, as North Carolina’s Maria Gakdeng, who had 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the first half, was 0-of-2 from the floor in the second, didn’t score, and fouled out in the fourth quarter.
The game was largely decided behind the arc, as North Carolina went 9-of-17 (.529) and Stanford 3-of-14 (.214). The Tar Heels came in shooting 34.1 percent from deep as a team and hadn’t been that good on 3-pointers since making 11-of-20 (.550) against UNC Asheville on Dec. 12, 2021.
Stanford hits the road next for a game at No. 3 Notre Dame on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 5:30 p.m. PT on ESPN.