Kelly sparks late rally to allow No. 15 North Carolina women to hold off Stanford for a 69-67 win

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Reniya Kelly scored half of her 10 points during a one-minute stretch late in the fourth quarter that allowed No. 15 North Carolina to hold off a late Stanford rally and earn their 20th win of the season, 69-67 on Sunday.

The Tar Heels led by as many as 15 points in the second half but the Cardinals rallied with a 14-3 run in the fourth quarter to tie the game 62-62 with less than four minutes left.

Grace Townsend hit from 3-point range to put North Carolina up by 12 points, 62-50, but Brooke Demetre scored at the basket to kickstart the Stanford run. Nunu Agara and Chloe Clardy each hit two free throws and Elena Bosgana drilled a 3-pointer from the wing to get the Cardinal within three but misfired on a layup. Kennedy Umeh gathered the loose ball and tipped it in while drawing a foul. Her free throw with 3:52 left tied the game.

Kelly wasted no time with the Tar Heels’ answer, drilling a jumper just seven seconds later and followed that with a 3. Lexi Donarski added a layup to take a seven-point lead. Agara turned a three-point play and her layup with :37 left made it 69-67, but missed a jumper to tie with three seconds left.

North Carolina (20-4, 8-3) and Stanford (11-10, 3-7), now Atlantic Coast Conference rivals, played for just the second time in the regular season. The Tar Heels reached the 20-win plateau for the 30th time in program history.

North Carolina plays at Clemson Sunday. Stanford plays at No. 3 Notre Dame on Thursday.

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