By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — With No. 17 North Carolina already playing well, the Tar Heels figured to be mighty hard to beat when Deja Kelly shook off her perimeter shooting struggles.

With her shooting ability, it was only a matter of time.

Behind the junior guard’s 18 points and season-high four 3-pointers — and with recent turnover issues mostly absent — the Heels rolled to a 70–57 victory Sunday over Georgia Tech before 4,418 fans at Carmichael Arena.

“It felt pretty good,” said Kelly, who was 7 of 14 from the floor and 4 of 6 from 3-point range after making 29.1% of her 3-point attempts in ACC play before Sunday. “I just have to keep reminding myself that my percentages are not a reflection of the type of shooter I am. Just having that confidence to still keep shooting regardless of misses.”

Carolina (14–5, 5–3 ACC) has won five ACC games in a row for the first time under fourth-year coach Courtney Banghart.

“Really thrilled with the growth of our offense over the last two weeks or so,” said Banghart, whose team shot 47.4% after shooting 48.9% in Thursday’s 61–56 win over No. 13 Duke. “Playing better on that end and having the maturation on that end that we want.”

The Tar Heels moved into a four-way tie in the loss column for fourth place in the ACC. The Tar Heels are two games behind league-leaders Duke (17–2, 7–1) and No. 7 Notre Dame (16–2, 7–1), who both suffered their only conference losses to UNC.

Also scoring in double figures were Alyssa Ustby (17 points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal), Kennedy Todd-Williams (13 points, seven rebounds, a steal and a 3-pointer for the eighth consecutive game) and Eva Hodgson (10 points, two 3-pointers, three assists and a block).

Kelly has been efficient in many other parts of her game during the win streak, from court leadership and tough defense to scoring at crucial moments. Banghart said it is a sign of a good basketball player when they can have a significant impact on the game without scoring as efficiently as she would prefer.

“As our offense has gotten better, she’ll get shots more in rhythm,” Banghart said. “That’s what you saw today. Some of the shots that she’s taken over the last month or so, some of them have been really challenged. And that’s partly her own doing, and it’s partly our team’s doing. As our offense gets better, her shooting percentage will go up as well.”

Kelly’s perimeter shots weren’t falling until Sunday, when she scored multiple 3-pointers for only the third time this season (she had two against Iowa State and two against Virginia).

Kelly said that she hadn’t changed her shot but had been putting up plenty of shots in practice. Before her hot-shooting against the Jackets, the perimeter shots always seemed to bounce off the rim before falling in.

All of her 3-pointers were nothing but net Sunday.

“I think it kind of reflects how it’s been going,” said Kelly, who played an ACC-season-low of 29 minutes, 42 seconds and also pulled down five rebounds. “I’ve had a bounce in the past two, three games. For today, I think I’ve just been repping it out, trying to get as many reps as I can. It’s just a confidence thing, a mental thing for me.”

Kelly wasn’t the only one firing shots in from deep as Carolina shot an ACC-season-high 44.4% from 3-point range. They needed only 18 shots to get eight 3-pointers after needing 28 shots to get nine in the win against N.C. State and 27 to get eight in the loss to Miami.

“I think 3s, just in general, are a momentum pusher,” said Ustby, who made her only 3-point attempt. “You see how excited and how much we love to celebrate when each other makes 3s. We’re sharing the ball lot. We had a lot of assists, which is good, so it picks up the energy.”

Carolina keeps improving its performance under the boards. The Tar Heels outrebounded the Jackets 42–35 and have outrebounded two of the last three opponents after being outrebounded in their first five league games. UNC had a 28–18 edge on inside points and, for the first time since the Miami loss on Jan. 5, got more second-chance points than the opponent (15–6).

The fact that the opponent was the Jackets, who fell to 10–10 and 1–8 and have lost six of their last seven, may have something to do with it. But the offense looked much crisper with better spacing than in the wins over State and Duke.

Banghart says that the spacing has improved the offense, and that it’s a product of a lot of video and practice work.

“I think even in the second half of the Duke game, we just were starting to do the things that we know we have to do, and there’s a little bit of a nuance to offense because it’s a collective,” Banghart said. “And they’re starting to cut at the right times, screen at the right angles, use their dribble at the right time and use their pass at the right time.

“Their rhythm is much better, which is leading to better shots, and they’re finding where they can attack without each of them being on an island,” Banghart said. “So, the offense has gotten better. We feel like it’s gotten better in practice, and it’s starting to show, which is timely.”

Kara Dunn’s 3-pointer gave the Jackets an early 7–5 lead, but Carolina ended the first quarter with a 13–4 run, including a Kelly jumper at the buzzer, to take a 18–11 lead into the second quarter.

After Avyonce Carter’s 3-pointer cut Tech’s deficit to four with 5:35 left in the first half, Todd-Williams’ 3-pointer with 2:22 left pushed it to 10. Another Kelly buzzer-beater, this time a 3-pointer, gave Carolina a 37–28 halftime lead after shooting 51.7%, the best shooting first half of the league season.

UNC made it a rout when it scored nine consecutive points — starting with a Kelly 3-pointer — to go up by 17 points with 5:39 left in the third quarter. UNC took a 57–39 lead into the final quarter.

For seven minutes of the second half, Banghart played three post players with a combination of Anya Poole, Destiny Adams, Alexandra Zelaya and Malu Tshitenge (who played for the second time in an ACC game this season). That meant some guard minutes for Adams and Ustby.

“We went with two bigs more than usual to try to rest these guys a little bit,” Banghart said of Ustby and Adams.

Tonie Morgan led Georgia Tech with 15 points and eight rebounds and Cameron Swartz came off the bench to score 13.

NOTES — Carolina plays one home game between now and Feb. 12. Four of the next five games — and the next two — are on the road, starting with Thursday’s 6 p.m. game at Pittsburgh (7–12, 0–8). The Panthers’ 74–37 loss Sunday at Florida State was their seventh in a row. … The crowd was bigger than for every home game last season except the 5,230 for the Duke game. … Hodgson made both of her free-throw attempts, has made 16 in a row since the Iowa State win and is shooting 86.9% from the line for the season. … Banghart said that there was no update yet on the status of redshirt freshman point guard Kayla McPherson, who has yet to make her college debut, and redshirt senior guard Ariel Young, who hasn’t been in uniform for several games. … UNC celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day with a free Sunday afternoon clinic at the Bill Koman Practice Complex. … UNC leads the series with Georgia Tech 61–21 and has won five of the last six, with the loss coming 55–38 in Atlanta last season. … Four Tar Heels scored in double figures for the first time since the Dec. 29 loss to Florida State.

No. 17 UNC 70, Georgia Tech 57

UNC lineup combinations

Score	Time	1	2	3	4	5	Segment score
Starters	10:00	Kelly	Hodgson	Todd- Williams	Ustby	Poole	16–11
16–11	1:51					Key	0–0
16–11	1:25			Paris			2–0
18–11	End 1st		Paris	T-W			5–5
23–16	6:21	Paris	Hodgson		Adams	Poole	8–7
31–23	1:47	Kelly		Ustby			6–5
37–28	Half			T-W	Ustby		7–3
44–31	6:32					Zelaya	6–2
50–33	4:42			Paris			7–5
57–38	1:48		Paris	Adams	Key		0–3
57–41	7:47(4)		Hodgson		Tshitenge	Poole	4–3
61–44	5:44	Hodgson	T-W				0–2
61–46	4:19			Ustby	Adams	Tshitenge	4–7
65–53	1:57		Paris	T-W	Ustby		5–4
70–57	Final

ACC standings

Team	League	Overall
No. 11 Virginia Tech	14–4	23–6
No. 10 N.C. State	13–5	25–5
No. 20 Syracuse	13–5	23–6
No. 14 Notre Dame	13–5	23–6
No. 24 Louisville	12–6	23–8
Florida State	12–6	21–9
Duke	11–7	19–10
North Carolina	11–7	19–11
Miami	8–10	18–11
Georgia Tech	7–11	16–14
Virginia	7–11	15–14
Boston College	5–13	13–18
Clemson	5–13	12–18
Pittsburgh	2–16	8–23
Wake Forest	2–16	6–24

Sunday’s games
North Carolina 63, Duke 59
Boston College 84, Pittsburgh 58
No. 10 N.C. State 75, Wake Forest 57
No. 14 Notre Dame 74, No. 24 Louisville 58
Georgia Tech 71, Miami 66, OT
Florida State 82, Clemson 79
Virginia 80, No. 11 Virginia Tech 75
ACC tournament
Greensboro Coliseum
Wednesday-Sunday

Date	Month/day	Time/score	Opponent/event (current ranking)	Location	Record
	November
9	Wednesday	W, 91–59	Jackson State	Home	1–0
12	Saturday	W, 75–48	TCU	Home	2–0
16	Wednesday	W, 93–25	South Carolina State	Home	3–0
20	Sunday	W, 76–65	James Madison	Harrisonburg, Va.	4–0
			*Phil Knight Invitational*
24	Thursday	W, 85–79	Oregon	Portland	5–0
27	Sunday	W, 73–64	No. 17 Iowa State	Portland	6–0
	December		*ACC/Big Ten Challenge*
1	Thursday	L, 87–63	No. 2 Indiana	Bloomington, Ind.	6–1
7	Wednesday	W, 64–42	UNCW	Home	7–1
11	Sunday	W, 99–67	Wofford	Home	8–1
16	Friday	W, 89–47	USC Upstate	Home	9–1
			*Jumpman Invitational*
20	Tuesday	L, 76–68	No. 18 Michigan	Charlotte	9–2
			ACC season begins
29	Thursday	L, 78–71	Florida State	Home	9–3, 0–1 ACC
	January
1	Sunday	L, 68–65	No. 4 Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Va.	9–4, 0–2 ACC
5	Thursday	L, 62–58	Miami	Coral Gables, Fla.	9–5, 0–3 ACC
8	Sunday	W, 60–50	No. 10 Notre Dame	Home	10–5, 1–3 ACC
12	Thursday	W, 70–59	Virginia	Charlottesville, Va.	11–5, 2–3 ACC
15	Sunday	W, 56–47	N.C. State	Home	12–5, 3–3 ACC
19	Thursday	W, 61–56	No. 13 Duke	Home	13–5, 4–3 ACC
22	Sunday	W, 70–57	Georgia Tech	Home	14–5, 5–3 ACC
26	Thursday	W, 72–57	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	15–5, 6–3 ACC
29	Sunday	W, 69–58	Clemson	Clemson	16–5, 7–3 ACC
	February
2	Thursday	W, 73–62	Virginia	Home	17–5, 8–3 ACC
5	Sunday	L, 62–55	Louisville	Louisville	17–6, 8–4 ACC
9	Thursday	L, 75–67	Syracuse	Syracuse	17–7, 8–5 ACC
12	Sunday	W, 73–55	Boston College	Home	18–7, 9–5 ACC
16	Thursday	L, 77–66, OT	N.C. State	Raleigh	18–8, 9–6 ACC
19	Sunday	W, 71–58	Wake Forest	Home	19–8, 10–6 ACC
23	Thursday	L, 61–59	No. 4 Virginia Tech	Home	19–9, 10–7 ACC
26	Sunday	W, 45–41	No. 13 Duke	Durham	20–9, 10–8 ACC
	March		*ACC Tournament*
2	Thursday	W, 68–58	Clemson	Greensboro	21–9
3	Friday	L, 44–40	No. 13 Duke	Greensboro	21–10
			*NCAA tournament*
18	Saturday	W, 61–59	St. John’s	Columbus, Ohio	22–10
20	Monday	L, 71–69	No. 12 Ohio State	Columbus, Ohio	22–11