March Madness: UNC's Deja Kelly hits game-tying shot after being carried off, but No. 3 Ohio State gets win
No. 7 seed North Carolina saw its season end on Monday, but not without some major drama.
The Tar Heels lost to No. 3 seed Ohio State 71-69 in the second round of the women's NCAA tournament, but seemed in danger of losing by much more when All-ACC point guard Deja Kelly went down with an apparent leg injury.
The junior basically had to be carried off the court after getting hit by a screen. At the time, UNC trailed 62-50 with about seven minutes left, which isn't a great time to lose your best player. Kelly was eventually taken to the locker room.
Deja Kelly was just carried off after being unable to walk on her own!
Hate to see that 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/RZqrElTfXH— TimeoutSPORTS__ (@TimeoutSPORTS3) March 20, 2023
The Tar Heels found some energy after that, though, and went on an 11-2 run to pull back within striking distance of the Buckeyes. Then they got an improbable boost when Kelly returned to the court.
Minutes later, Kelly hit a game-tying shot with 9.8 seconds left.
DEJA KELLY
CASH pic.twitter.com/OSwqp0jgih— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) March 20, 2023
Unfortunately, 9.8 seconds is still a very large amount of time to leave a home team in March. Ohio State got the ball back and won on a floater from Jacy Sheldon with 1.8 seconds left.
With 1.8 seconds left, @JacySheldon sinks a floater and wins it for the Buckeyes#MarchMadness x @OhioStateWBB pic.twitter.com/lo2XsX2bLA
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 20, 2023
Kelly finished with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-18 shooting, plus 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 3 turnovers. Sheldon had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
Ohio State will advance to face the winner of No. 2 UConn and No. 7 Baylor in the Sweet 16, with a chance at reaching its first Elite Eight since 1993.