In a thrilling game that needed overtime to decide a winner, the UNC women’s basketball team came up big when it mattered most–knocking off the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 79-76 in Winston Salem.
A career game from freshman forward Janelle Bailey carried the Tar Heels (13-5, 3-2 ACC), as the four-time ACC Rookie of the Week posted a pair of personal bests with 30 points and 19 rebounds.
The native of Matthews, North Carolina converted on 12 of her 18 field goal attempts, made all six of her shots at the foul line and blocked four shots in a career-high 44 minutes.
UNC also received 20 points from senior guard Jamie Cherry, who made 13 of her 14 free throws–including four in the final 27 seconds of overtime that helped seal up the victory.
The Tar Heels held a 66-59 lead with just over three minutes to play in regulation, however, Wake Forest (10-8, 2-3 ACC) managed to fight back and tie things up at 67 on a layup from Amber Campbell with just five seconds remaining.
Bailey then sent the game to the extra period when she missed a jumper at the buzzer.
Wake Forest managed to hold the Tar Heels’ leading scorer–junior guard Paris Kea–to just nine points, but couldn’t keep her quiet in crunch time.
Although she made just four of her 16 shots from the field for the game, Kea’s three-pointer in overtime extended UNC’s lead to six and ultimately put the Demon Deacons into a hole they couldn’t crawl out of.
As a result, the Tar Heels have now won three straight games after dropping their first two in conference play.
Up Next:
UNC will return home to Carmichael Arena on Thursday for a rivalry matchup against NC State. That game is set to tip-off at 7 p.m.
Photo via UNC Athletics
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