North Carolina
FGCU downs No.18 North Carolina at Gulf Coast Showcase on late shot by Kierra Adams
A day after turning in its worst performance of the season in a lopsided loss to No. 5 Iowa and Caitlin Clark, the FGCU women’s basketball team bounced back in a huge way.
Senior Kierra Adams banked in a drive off a broken play with 7.9 seconds remaining to lift the 65-64 victory over No. 18 North Carolina in the third-place game at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
First, however, the Eagles (5-2) had to survive one final defensive possession where Tar Heels senior guard Deja Kelly got a good look at the basket on a short jumper with one second left but it bounced out, giving FGCU its 25th Power Five win and seventh victory over a ranked opponent in the program’s history.
“I thought we showed a lot of toughness today,” FGCU coach Karl Smesko said. “We were a lot more physical than we were a day ago and our team responded really well to a tough situation. I think it really helped that we got off to a good start.”
From the tip, the Eagles immediately showed much better cohesion than they did against the Hawkeyes, especially on the offensive end. Redshirt junior Maddie Antenucci scored 10 first-quarter points to help power the Eagles to a 23-18 lead after the first quarter.
Saturday: Caitlin Clark, Iowa blow past FGCU to advance to Gulf Coast Showcase championship
“North Carolina is a very physical team so I thought we did a much better job working together to create open shots. Instead of individual play we were screening and cutting and moving the ball.”
Antenucci hit her first five shots, including three from beyond the arc, the last of which gave the Eagles a 28-20 lead with 6:21 left in the second quarter.
The Tar Heels (5-2), who entered the game with one of the best scoring defenses in the nation, held the Eagles to just three points on 1-for-6 shooting the rest of the half, outscoring FGCU 13-3 to take a 33-31 lead at the break.
North Carolina, which shot a season-high 51.2% from the field, extended its lead to 38-31 with 8:11 left in the third quarter. With leading scorer Uju Ezedu held to just one point on three field goal attempts, the Eagles got strong performances from fifth-year player Ajulu Thatha and freshman Cerina Rolle. Thatha, a tranfer from SIU-Edwardsville, stepped out and hit two big 3-pointers in the third quarter while Rolle, who got her first start of the season, scored six of her eight points in the second half before fouling out with 7:37 to play. By then, the Tar Heels lead was down to one point at 56-55.
“To win a game like this you’re going to need efforts from a lot of players,” Smesko said. “Cerina, she’s fearless. You know, she’ll go and attack anybody. That’s something I really like about her. And Juju, she’s a good shooter who can really stretch the floor. She was a big part of helping us get back in the game.”
Senior point guard Dolly Cairns, who’s been a steadying force for FGCU so far this season, scored five straight points for the Eagles to pull them within 64-63 with 3:33 remaining.
That was the score when Smesko called timeout with 29 seconds left to call a play that he said FGCU failed to execute. Still, Adams, who finished with seven points, bailed out the Eagles by banking in a short jumper from the paint with two seconds on the shot clock.
“That play went a lot sideways; we didn’t quite get what we were looking for,” Smesko said. “But we were able to at least keep moving. We found a nice bounce pass to Kiki who cut into an opening and she made a huge shot for us.”
Cairns, who finished with a team-high 18 points to go along with three assists and two steals and was named to the Showcase’s All-Tournament team, said the team’s resilience shone through in the way it rallied in the second half.
“We battled through it,” she said. “Three games in three days it’s tough but I’m just proud of how we struck together. We have a lot of confidence in each other and we all stepped up and made big plays today.”
The tightly officiated game saw the team whistled for 41 fouls, 25 on FGCU. That allowed the Tar Heels to outscore the Eagles 20-10 at the free throw line, but North Carolina missed five foul shots in the final quarter, three by Kelly, who finished with a game-high 24 points. The quicksilver guard also drew 11 fouls, mostly on slippery drives into the paint.
FGCU, however, more than made up for that disparity from beyond the arc where they connected on 11 3-pointers, compared to just two for the Tar Heels.
“I thought for the most part we guarded them well,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “They made some three today that they really haven’t been making in this tournament.”
On Sunday, however, FGCU made those shots when it counted, earning a hard-fought win in a Showcase experience that Smesko said will benefit the Eagles moving forward.
“I think there’s quite a bit we can learn from these games,” he said. “I think over these next two weeks, you’ll see us get better and better because we played in this tournament.
North Carolina
3 men charged in connection with woman’s death at Cook Out restaurant in North Carolina
Two men have been charged with murder in the death of 29-year-old Davicia Jean Ann Lee at a Cook Out restaurant in Durham, North Carolina, last month. A third is facing a weapons charge.
Two men have been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a woman at the fast-food restaurant Cook Out in North Carolina.
Twenty-three-year-old Alexander Kenyon Carlton Jr. and 19-year-old Calvin Jerade Spence Jr. have been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 29-year-old Davicia Jean Ann Lee late last month in Durham, the Durham County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release on Friday.
A third man, 18-year-old Jamari Treyvon McKnight, is charged with one count of going armed to the terror of the people, which basically means terrorizing someone with a weapon like a gun.
USA TODAY could not immediately find attorneys representing the three men.
The shooting occurred just after 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 at the Cook Out on South Miami Boulevard, according to the sheriff’s office. When deputies arrived at the scene, they found Lee dead.
The sheriff’s office called the shooting “an isolated incident” that happened after shots broke out following a fight, WNCN-TV reported.
Arrests made in fatal shooting of Davicia Jean Ann Lee
Detectives arrested Spence and Carlton on Thursday and took them to the Durham County Detention Center without bond on charges of carrying a concealed gun, felony conspiracy, going armed to the terror of the people and first-degree murder, the sheriff’s office said.
McKnight was also taken into custody and arrested Thursday night on misdemeanor going armed to the terror of the people, according to the sheriff’s office. The Morrisville police arrested him and he is currently being held in the Wake County Detention Center until his first court appearance, the agency added.
The investigation into Lee’s homicide is ongoing, while all findings are now in the process of being turned over to the Durham County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution, according to the sheriff’s office.
The USC Trojans are in pursuit of flipping two class of 2025 recruits, Nela Tupou and Alex Payne. Can the Trojans flip one or both of these players before national signing day?
Nela Tupou Player Profile
Nela Tupou is a 6-4, 220 pound tight end/defensive end out of Folsom, California. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the 43rd-best ATH in the class of 2025 per 247Sports.
Tupou committed to the Utah Utes in February of 2024, but he just recently visited USC last weekend for the Trojans’ 28-20 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
On3 is now predicting that Tupou will likely flip this commitment from Utah to USC.
Alex Payne Player Profile
Alex Payne is a 6-5, 265 pound offensive tackle out of Gainesville, Florida. He is rated as four-star recruit and ranked as the 16th-best offensive tackle in the class of 2025.
Payne committed to the North Carolina Tar Heels in January of 2024, but he as well as Tupou, visited USC last weekend.
In 247Sports recruiting analyst Tom Loy’s updated crystal ball prediction, he had Payne flipping his commitment from North Carolina to USC. Loy has a good track record of predicting where recruits will end up as his all-time hit rate for predicting recruits’ final destinations is 81.64 percent.
USC Bolstering Up Offensive Line to Go Along With Weapons
One of the glaring holes for the USC Trojans this season has been the offensive line. For USC to bounce back next season, they will have to get much better in the trenches. This has been exposed in their first season in the Big Ten. Landing Tupou, who can both be a factor in the run blocking scheme as a blocker, and Payne, one of the top tackle prospects in the country, would go a long way for next season and the future of the program.
Barring a flurry of transfer portal decisions, the Trojans will have an abundance of skill position talent coming back next season.
Freshman running back Quinten Joyner has been the second best back this season behind senior running back Woody marks.
Four of the Trojans five leading receivers are sophomores. Makai Lemon, Zachariah Branch, Ja’Kobi Lane, and Duce Robinson all have shown flashes of potentially being a number one wide receiver next season.
Add in the Trojans starting sophomore quarterback Jayden Maiava and they have one of the youngest teams in the Big Ten. If USC continues to address the offensive line in the last days of the 2025 recruiting cycle and in the transfer portal this offseason, the Trojans could be a dangerous team next season.
MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Five-Star QB Husan Longstreet Talks Recruitment, Flip to USC Trojans
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MORE: Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams Reveals Advice from USC Trojans Coach Lincoln Riley
MORE: USC Trojans’ Lincoln Riley on De-Commitments: ‘Great Ones Always See The Opportunity’
MORE: Why 4-Star Hayden Lowe Flipped From USC Trojans To Miami Hurricanes, Mario Cristobal
MORE: USC Trojans Women’s Basketball Star JuJu Watkins Makes Name, Image, Likeness History
Sledding in Haw Creek Dec. 9, 2018
The Tracey family enjoys the snow in Haw Creek with some sledding.
Angeli Wright, Asheville Citizen Times
Some school systems in Western North Carolina are closed Friday, Nov. 21, due to winter weather.
- Avery County Schools: Closed, remote learning day.
- Graham County Schools: Closed, workday for staff.
- Madison County Schools: Closed, optional teacher workday.
- Mitchell County Schools: Closed, remote learning day.
- Watauga County Schools: Two-hour delay.
- Yancey County Schools: Closed, remote learning day.
This story will be updated
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