By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — A hard-fought game isn’t always rewarded in the ACC women’s basketball gauntlet.
That was the case for No. 24 North Carolina, which battled No. 17 Virginia Tech into overtime. But the Hokies took control in the extra period on their way to a 70–61 victory Sunday before 5,618 fans at Carmichael Arena for the Tar Heels’ third consecutive loss.
Carolina (15–7, 7–4 ACC) didn’t make it easy for the reigning ACC champions, who have many players who were part of last season’s Final Four run.
“My team showed a whole lot of fight, as we’ve come to expect,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “We just didn’t have enough kids we could rely on to make plays inside their skill set, which put a lot of pressure on our defense.”
It was another big Deja Kelly game in a loss, collecting 26 points and seven rebounds for UNC (15–7, 7–4 ACC), but the Hokies (18–4, 9–2) had too much firepower and finally shook their shooting funk late to beat the Heels for the fifth consecutive time.
Kelly stated the obvious, saying she was upset with the losing streak.
“We know that this league is tough,” Kelly said. “And we knew, coming up, we had some big games and we will continue to down the stretch. So, it’s just our preparation. Those games we’ve been really good defensively, but obviously offensively has been our struggle.”
After playing so hard to get the game into overtime, UNC was 1 of 8 from the floor in overtime.
“I feel like we got good shots, and we got looks that we practice, in practice and outside of practice,” said graduate transfer Lexi Donarski, who had 12 points, two 3-pointers and three steals. “They just didn’t fall. I thought, for the most part, we did what we want. Just wish we could have made a couple of more shots.”
UNC senior center Alexandra Zelaya played a season-high 18 minutes with two 3-pointers, two assists, a steal and some nice passes to cutters.
Starting center Maria Gakdeng played 21 minutes but none after the third quarter, and senior center Anya Poole only played five minutes. One Gakdeng bucket accounted for the only two-point field goal between her, Zelaya and Poole, although UNC had a 24–6 edge on inside points.
“Z’s able to space the floor because she’s shot-willing; she certainly has an understanding how to create space for her teammates — the nuance of how to create space for others,” Banghart said. “Where she lacks a little bit of rebounding ability— as you can tell from the statistics that hurt us — she gives you stuff on the offensive. So, you’re forced to make some decisions with how unreliable some of our pieces were today.”
Deja Kelly, Alyssa Ustby (10 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, two blocks for her 12th double-double of the season and 34th of her career) and Donarski (12 points, two 3-pointers, two assists and three steals) were most of the offense.
The rest of the team was 5 of 20 from the floor. Reniya Kelly, making her sixth consecutive start, was scoreless with only two shots in 18 minutes and didn’t play after logging eight third-quarter minutes.
Carolina was outrebounded for the fourth consecutive game (52–40) after only being outrebounded four times in the 19 games before that.
Banghart points out that UNC’s poor shooting in the last four games has much to do with the defensive rebounding totals from opponents.
“If we’re taking the right shot, and it’s a shot that Lexi or Deja practice, we’re living with it,” Banghart said. “They wish they could go in a little bit more. But if they don’t, that’s a defensive rebound more often than not because of the positioning. So, I think it has more to do with us making shots.”
Virginia Tech, who scored more points (16) in overtime than in any quarter, came into the game shooting 47.1%. Tough Tar Heels defense held the Hokies to 30.6% shooting through three quarters, but they shot 40.9% after that.
“It’s familiarity,” Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks said, explaining his team’s offensive troubles for much of the game. “They know where we like to get the basketball, and I think they mixed their coverages up a little bit. But also know that those were shots we wanted to get and we just didn’t capitalize on.”
Against the Hokies, the goal is to hold the production of their two main stars, but center Elizabeth Kitley (15 points, 15 rebounds) and guard Georgia Amoore (21 points, 11 assists) both put up double-doubles.
“I thought we did a good job helping off when we could,” said Lexi Donarski, who defended Amoore, of trying to stop those two and navigating the Hokies’ many ball screens. “I thought, as a team, our effort on those ball screens was great. I thought we did enough defensively to put us in a spot that we wanted to be in.”
Kitley got off to a slow start, making only 4 of 11 first-half shots.
“We wanted to make her uncomfortable and kind of give her hell. And we did that at various times, throwing doubles at various times,” Banghart said. “These guys’ ability to lock into the defensive game plan shows how coachable they are and now we’ve just got to make sure that they play with some confidence and a little bit more coachability on the offensive end.”
Carolina didn’t take full advantage of the 17 turnovers it caused, scoring only six points off of them.
UNC spotted the Hokies an early five-point lead before Donarski scored seven points consecutively (including two 3-pointers) on an 11–3 run to go up by four. Carleigh Wenzel’s 3-pointer gave Virginia Tech a 15–12 lead after one quarter.
Carolina went nearly seven minutes without a field goal after the second Donarski 3, allowing the Hokies to expand their lead to eight early in the second quarter. Deja Kelly scored six points in an 8–2 run to cut the lead to two, but Matilda Ekh’s baseline jumper at the buzzer gave the Hokies a 26–20 halftime lead.
“We missed a lot of kind of good shots,” Banghart said of her team’s first half offensive struggles. “Obviously, we haven’t been lights out from three. We sort of got into attack mode better in the second half.”
A 13–4 run to start the second half gave UNC its first lead since the last minute of the first quarter. Two Ustby layups and a Deja Kelly layup gave the Tar Heels a one-point edge with 6:18 left in the third quarter and it was a three by the end of the run.
UNC got 3-pointers from Donarski and Zelaya after that, but two Amoore free throws tied it at 39 entering the fourth quarter.
Another Zelaya 3-pointer tied it at 44 with 6:44 left, but a Kitley jumper gave the Hokies a four-point lead with 3:38 left. Two Ustby inside buckets sandwiched a Kitley layup to cut the UNC deficit to two with 1:45 left.
Deja Kelly missed a layup attempt in traffic with 55 seconds left in regulation with a chance to tie it.
Donarski knocked the ball away from Amoore for a steal, and Indya Nivar made a twisting reverse layup off a euro-step at the other end to tie it at 54 with 34.5 seconds left.
Cayla King missed a 3-point attempt with six seconds left, but after Zelaya hauled down the rebound, Ustby drew a charging call with 1.5 seconds left. Amoore missed a desperation 3-point attempt at the regulation buzzer.
Virginia Tech took control in the overtime. Carolina turned it over after Amoore’s 3-pointer, and an Ekh 3 pushed the lead to seven with 1:21 left.
“They’re really good offensively. They kind of shoot you out of games. And they did that in this in the overtime period, clearly,” Banghart said.
NOTES — UNC doesn’t play again until next Sunday at 2 p.m. (ACC Network) when the Tar Heels visit Duke (14–1, 6–4), which won 69–38 at Pittsburgh on Thursday and next plays at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN3) at home against Wake Forest. … Sophomore UNC guard Paulina Paris (lower-body injury) missed her sixth consecutive game. … There was a large contingent of Hokies fans at the game. … UNC had pink trim on their jerseys for the Play4Kay game. … UNC leads the all-time series with Virginia Tech 21–15.
No. 17 Virginia Tech 70, No. 24 UNC 61
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 9 Louisville | 6–0 | 16–3 | 11 |
| Duke | 6–0 | 11–6 | 21 |
| Virginia | 5–1 | 13–4 | 39 |
| N.C. State | 5–1 | 12–5 | 27 |
| Syracuse | 4–2 | 14–3 | 42 |
| No. 23 Notre Dame | 4–2 | 12–4 | 23 |
| Stanford | 3–2 | 14–4 | 35 |
| Virginia Tech | 3–3 | 13–5 | 51 |
| Clemson | 3–3 | 12–6 | 40 |
| Miami | 3–3 | 11–6 | 43 |
| Georgia Tech | 3–3 | 8–10 | 92 |
| North Carolina | 2–3 | 13–5 | 26 |
| Wake Forest | 2–4 | 12–6 | 118 |
| California | 1–4 | 10–8 | 61 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–4 | 8–10 | 243 |
| SMU | 0–5 | 7–10 | 153 |
| Florida State | 0–5 | 5–12 | 105 |
| Boston College | 0–6 | 4–14 | 250 |
* — Through Sunday games
Sunday’s results
No. 23 Notre Dame 73, North Carolina 50
Virginia Tech 78, Boston College 56
No. 9 Louisville 86, Pittsburgh 46
Syracuse 79, Virginia 60
Miami 89, Florida State 73
Georgia Tech 58, Clemson 55
Duke 67, Stanford 60
California 61, Wake Forest 52
N.C. State 91, SMU 54
Thursday games
No. 9 Louisville at No. 23 Notre Dame, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Florida State at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stanford at Boston College, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
N.C. State at Wake Forest, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Miami at North Carolina, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Virginia Tech at SMU, 7:30, ACCN Extra
Virginia at Duke, 8 p.m. ACC Network
Sunday games
California at Boston Colleges, noon, ACCN Extra
Wake Forest at Clemson, noon, ACC Network
No. 9 Louisville at N.C. State, 1 p.m., ESPN2
SMU at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m., ACCN Extra
North Carolina at Florida State, 2 p.m., The CW
Stanford at Syracuse, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Georgia Tech at Duke, 6 p.m., ACC Network
| Date | Day/month | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 30 | Thursday | L, 91–82 | No. 2 South Carolina in Atlanta | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 90–42 | vs. N.C. Central | 1–0 |
| 6 | Thursday | W, 71–37 | vs. Elon | 2–0 |
| WBCA Challenge Las Vegas | ||||
| 13 | Thursday | L, 78–60 | vs. No. 3 UCLA | 2–1 |
| 15 | Saturday | W, 82–68 | vs. Fairfield | 3–1 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 20 | Thursday | W, 85–50 | at N.C. A&T | 4–1 |
| 23 | Sunday | W, 94–48 | vs. UNCG | 5–1 |
| Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico | ||||
| 27 | Thursday | W, 83–48 | vs. South Dakota St. | 6–1 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 85–73 | vs. Kansas State | 7–1 |
| 29 | Saturday | W, 80–63 | vs. Columbia | 8–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Women’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Thursday | W, 79–64 | at No. 4 Texas | 8–2 |
| ——————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 82–40 | vs. Boston Univ. | 9–2 |
| 14 | Sunday | L, 76–66, OT | vs. No. 9 Louisville | 9–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 84–34 | vs. UNCW | 10–3 |
| 21 | Sunday | W, 93–74 | vs. Charleston Southern | 11–3 |
| 29 | Monday | W, 90–38 | at Boston College | 12–3, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Thursday | W, 71–55 | vs. California | 13–3, 2–0 |
| 4 | Sunday | L, 77–71, OT | vs. Stanford | 13–4, 2–1 |
| 11 | Sunday | L, 73–50 | at No. 23 Notre Dame | 13–5, 2–2 |
| 15 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. Miami | ACCN Extra |
| 18 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | at Florida State | The CW |
| 22 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| 25 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | The CW |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 6 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN2 |
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ACCN |
| 8 | Sunday | 2 p.m. | vs. Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 12 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCN |
| 15 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | at Duke | ABC |
| 19 | Thursday | 6 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | ACCN |
| 22 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Pittsburgh | ACCN |
| 26 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia | ACCN Extra |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | Noon | vs. Duke | ESPN |
| ACC tournament | ||||
| 4–8 | Wed.-Sun | Gas South Arena, Duluth, Ga. | ||
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 20–24 | Fri.-Mon. | First, second rounds | ||
| 27–30 | Fri.-Mon. | Regionals Fort Worth, Texas, and Sacramento, Calif. | ||
| April | ||||
| 3, 5 | Fri., Sun | Final Four Phoenix |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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