UNC women's basketball's Alyssa Ustby battled back from injury for another chance to play at home

“I was so upset that I didn’t get to play on the court that I’ve poured so much into for the last five years,” Ustby said. 
Ustby missed the last four games of the regular season for North Carolina. Alongside her, starting sophomore guard Reniya Kelly also missed a three-game stretch. The injuries forced the Tar Heels to go deep into their bench. They lost both games without the pair. 
Senior night was “heartbreaking” for Alyssa Ustby. 

“Those games were challenging when they weren’t [playing],” graduate guard Lexi Donarski said. “[We were] just playing for them because we know that they still want us to succeed even though they can’t be out on the court with us and just making it through each game until they’re back with us, which thankfully they both are now.”
The graduate forward was ruled out with a lower body injury and forced to miss the last regular season home game of her career. 
Forced to watch from the sidelines, North Carolina fell to Virginia, 78-75, in its regular season finale. A painful conclusion to her historic career in Chapel Hill. But deep down, Ustby knew it wouldn’t be the last time. The opportunity for the Tar Heels to clinch a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament offered one more chance for Ustby to take the floor in Carmichael Arena, and receive the curtain call she earned. 
Now, with No. 3 North Carolina set to face 14th-seeded Oregon State Saturday at 4:30 p.m., Ustby has earned the opportunity for a redo finale in Chapel Hill.
“That drove a lot of my recovery process,” Ustby said. “I wanted to get back as fast as I could from injury just to help my team make sure that we secured that opportunity for a host so that I could play on that Carmichael court again.” 
So, she made sure of it.