SYRACUSE, N.Y. — North Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart found herself looking around the bus for Alyssa Ustby ahead of an ACC tilt in Syracuse. It was routine for the fifth-year senior to be there, and for Banghart, whose North Carolina tenure extends one year beyond Ustby’s arrival, to turn to her.

In a rarity, that wasn’t the case Thursday, and it might not be in the upcoming week when No. 9 North Carolina plays some of the ACC’s best to close out the regular season and continue building a strong NCAA resume. It’s another blow to the conference if Ustby misses considerable time.

Ustby did not travel with the team while receiving treatment for a left knee injury that limited her Sunday. The 68-58 win over Syracuse on Thursday was the first game Ustby missed since Feb. 19, 2023, and only the 13th time in her 149 games at North Carolina she didn’t start. The team officially listed its best rebounder as “week-to-week.”

“She'll be back, which I think is really good for the ACC,” Banghart said. “We've got a real chance as a league to do something really special.”

An ACC team has reached the Final Four each of the past three seasons (Louisville in 2022, Virginia Tech in 2023 and NC State in 2024) despite season-ending injuries to star players the last two years. It hasn’t had a champion since Notre Dame in 2018. North Carolina in 1994 is the only other ACC team to lift the trophy for the conference (Stanford won its three in the Pac-12).

The Tar Heels were one of four ACC teams in the NCAA women’s basketball committee’s first top-16 reveal last weekend. The Tar Heels slotted in as a No. 3 seed at No. 11 behind No. 4 Notre Dame (1 seed), No. 8 NC State (2 seed) and No. 10 Duke (3 seed). The top 16 host the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament.

Those seedings will shuffle by the next reveal Feb. 28. The Tar Heels notched a Quad 1 win over NC State on Sunday despite being without Ustby for all but two minutes. They received another bump when surging Louisville upset Duke on Thursday. And two of their last three games are prime opportunities on the road.

North Carolina (24-4, 12-3), in third place in the ACC, finishes its season with road trips to Louisville (19-7, 12-3) and Duke (20-7, 11-4) before closing at home against Virginia (13-14, 5-10). A crop of teams, including second-place NC State (21-5, 13-2) and Florida State (21-6, 11-4), are battling for ACC tournament seeding, mainly aiming for a No. 2 seed to avoid Notre Dame (24-2, 15-0) until the ACC championship game.

That tough slate becomes more difficult without the Tar Heels’ mainstay. Ustby is averaging 10.7 points, 9.4 rebounds, three assists, 1.1 steals and one block per game while keying the conference’s best defense (55.7 ppg allowed). Earlier this month, she was named one of 10 finalists for the Cheryl Miller Award given to the nation’s best small forward.

“It’s a big game,” Banghart said of Sunday’s matchup at Louisville. “I know [Ustby] wants to be there, but I don’t know. We’re sort of making those decisions as we go.”

It’s unclear the extent of the injury or when it occurred. Ustby exited two minutes into the win over NC State and did not return. She’s 41 rebounds from owning the program’s all-time career rebounding mark, a record Banghart said “means the world to [Ustby],” and the coach believes they’ll get for her.

Banghart declined to provide details on the injury, but indicated the designation leans more toward precautionary than serious. She said if it were up to Ustby, she would play, but the program is keeping in mind the bigger picture.

“If she didn’t have a pro career [ahead of her], it’s a little different,” Banghart said. “But you want to make sure she’s rock solid and, honestly, it gives you a really good chance to develop your depth a little bit.”

Banghart will now turn to redshirt freshman Ciera Toomey, who started at Syracuse, early enrollee Lanie Grant, and junior transfer Trayanna Crisp, whose 12 points trailed Maria Gakdeng’s team-high 21 Thursday.

It’s the third consecutive year a late-season injury is impacting the ACC ahead of March.

In 2023, Notre Dame point guard Olivia Miles sustained a non-contact knee injury playing against Louisville in the regular-season finale. Miles did not play in the ACC tournament, where No. 1 seed Notre Dame lost in the semifinals. The program waited until the team secured an NCAA tournament No. 3 seed before announcing Miles sustained an ACL tear and would not play.

The Fighting Irish were a solid upset candidate to reach the Final Four; they lost to Maryland in the Sweet 16. Virginia Tech made it to the Final Four.

A season ago, Virginia Tech’s quest for a repeat appearance was squashed when National Player of the Year finalist Elizabeth Kitley injured her knee in the regular-season finale. On the eve of the NCAA tournament three weeks later, the fifth-year forward announced the injury and that she would not play. The Hokies lost to Baylor in the second round. NC State stormed into the Final Four.