Going into their massive ACC matchup with North Carolina at Cassell Coliseum, the Virginia Tech women's basketball team had an opportunity to feel extremely safe as far as the 68-team NCAA Tournament field goes next month.
They went toe-to-toe with 22nd-ranked North Carolina after coming back from sweeping their West Coast trip with wins over California and Stanford. The Hokies held the Tar Heels to seven second-quarter points and held a seven-point halftime lead, but UNC's offense came alive in the second half, and they got the game to overtime before outscoring the Hokies, 9-6, in the extra session to escape Cassell Coliseum with a three-point overtime victory.
Virginia Tech missed golden opportunity in the first half
Holding UNC to their lowest offensive output in the first half this year, 21 points, but the Hokies only scored 28 and missed a huge opportunity to get more separation. They did that with Carleigh Wenzel stuck on the bench with two fouls. As well as they played on the defensive end, they struggled to build on the lead.
That proved to be big, as you knew that the Tar Heels' offense was going to come alive in the second half, and that's what happened. Virginia Tech remains on the NCAA Tournament bubble with two regular-season games remaining before the conference tournament next month. They will host Georgia Tech on Sunday in a game they need to win.
Carys Baker and Samyha Suffren each had 15 points. Baker had eight rebounds, and Kilah Freelon had six points and 10 rebounds. The Hokies won the battle in all the little things, but couldn't win on the scoreboard. Tech forced 17 turnovers while committing 13. Virginia Tech had 19 points off the 17 UNC turnovers, while the Tar Heels had just nine points off the Hokies turnovers. Virginia Tech was a perfect 13-for-13 from the free-throw line.