The Virginia Tech women's basketball team gave #12 North Carolina all they could handle Thursday night. Still, ultimately it was the Tar Heels and their stingy defense who came away with a tough 67-62 victory in Chapel Hill. A win would've given Tech a much-needed boost to its NCAA tournament resumé.
Both teams started out hot, Tech hitting five of their first eight and UNC five of their first six. But UNC's defense tightened up from there and ended the first quarter on a 12-4 run. The Tarheels entered the game first in the ACC in scoring defense and opponents' FG%, which showed. Every possession was a struggle. Tech was regularly forced into taking off-balance or contested shots throughout the game.
But the Hokies hung around, made some of those tough shots, and played some defense of their own. The teams went to the locker room with UNC holding a 37-32 lead.
The offenses were both a bit sluggish coming out of the break. Carys Baker (17 points) ended a four-minute Tech scoring drought with 3:28 left and Kayl Peterson followed a possession later to tie the game up. Tech grew the lead to four before a final flurry by UNC gave them a 52-51 lead heading into the final stanza.
The fourth quarter was another hard-fought effort on both sides. Tech took a 58-57 lead into the final media timeout, but they were already in the middle of a five-minute scoring drought from the field. When Baker ended the drought and tied it up with a bucket at the 2:50 mark, it would be the last points the Hokies would score on the evening.
Carolina's Reniya Kelly led all scorers with 20 and Alyssa Ustby led all rebounders with 16, but their team defense was the game's star. Time after time, Tech was forced into a bad shot. When they were able to spring free for a three-pointer, they were a sizzling 8-for-13 (61.5%). Baker and Matilda Ekh (13 points) were a combined 6-for-9. Getting those shots took a lot of effort though, and the contested shots Tech took inside the arc were hit at a pedestrian 37.5% rate. All credit goes to North Carolina's defense. They didn't make it easy.
The Hokies (16-9, 7-7) get a full week to lick their wounds. The first of their final four regular-season games will be at home against Stanford next Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. The Cardinal to 12-12 overall and 4-9 in the ACC (1-8 away on the road) with a win at home Thursday night over Syracuse.