North Carolina basketball fans wanting to relive the UNC men’s basketball Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title run will have a chance this weekend.
“The Other Supreme Court: The 2016 New York Life ACC Tournament” documented this past year’s ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C. and is set to air three times in the next four days.
A release says the hour-long special takes viewers behind the scenes of the tournament that featured seven games decided by five points or less – including two in overtime.
UNC knocked off Virginia in the ACC title game. Both of those teams went on to be No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, where Carolina went to the National Championship game before losing to Villanova.
The ACC Tournament program debuts on ESPNU at five o’clock Friday evening with scheduled re-airings at eight o’clock Sunday night and one o’clock next Monday afternoon.
http://chapelboro.com/sports/unc-sports/acc-tournament-documentary-debuts-fridayCarolina is why the ACC baseball tournament format is wrong.
The ACC restricting its baseball tournament to ten teams does not help its member schools that find themselves on the NCAA bubble. If there were no ACC tournament, the Diamond Heels would be a shoe-in for an NCAA tourney bid with their high RPI and top three toughest schedules in the country. But now the selection committee will say, “Well, they didn’t even make their own conference tournament.”
They did not because the ACC remains the best college baseball league in the nation with tremendous balance from top to bottom. Granted, the Tar Heels have slid considerably from their early season run in which they climbed to No. 3 in the rankings. But their RPI of 15 remains strong and is their best case for making the NCAA field. No team with an RPI that high has ever been denied.
But, still, Carolina is not playing at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park this week. How hard would it be for the league to add one more day to the tournament and let the other five schools in? Revise the format, start on Monday and give the top four teams byes like they do in basketball. They can figure it out; it’s not rocket science.
Is it a matter of money? The ACC is one of the wealthiest leagues in America. Surely, all schools would agree to pay travel expenses to Durham even if it meant playing one and be done. That would be like basketball teams that go out early in the ACC tournament; it may affect their NCAA seed but it wouldn’t be a black mark like it is in baseball. If UNC makes it on Selection Monday, and other ACC teams that are playing in Durham do not, we’ll surely hear the old complaints about favoritism for the Tar Heels.
What criteria should the NCAA use — your overall record and body of work throughout the season or your final standings in the conference? I say both. The Tar Heels will get in on Monday, but not happily for those ACC teams that ended their seasons at the DBAP.
http://chapelboro.com/sports/chanskys-notebook-baseball-format-hurts-acc
It’s ACC Tournament week, with games getting under way today in Washington, DC. The Tar Heels are regular-season champs (for the seventh time in Roy Williams’ 13 years as head coach!), so they’re the top seed this week; they’ll take on either Pitt or Syracuse in the quarterfinal on Thursday at noon. UNC is looking to end a seven-year drought: they’ve reached the title game four times in the last five years, but they haven’t actually won the ACC tourney since 2008.
(Worth noting, though: regardless of what the Heels do in Washington this week, they have a history of playing well in the NCAA tournament when winning the regular-season conference title. They’ve won or shared the ACC regular-season title six times in the Roy Williams era – and each of those six years, they’ve reached at least the Elite Eight in the NCAA tourney.)
Deborah Stroman is a sports commentator and a professor at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. She discussed the ACC tournament with Aaron Keck on WCHL Monday.
WCHL will have wire-to-wire coverage of the ACC tournament beginning with the quarterfinals on Thursday. Tune in Thursday morning at 10 am for a special hour-long edition of the UNC Health Care Countdown to Tipoff, followed by all four quarterfinal games. We’ll air Friday’s semifinals and Saturday’s final as well.
http://chapelboro.com/sports/unc-sports/stroman-on-sports-acc-tournament-timeThe UNC basketball team is the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament. Their first game will be Thursday at noon in the quarterfinal round.
The Tar Heels will play the winner of the No. 9 Syracuse and No. 8 Pittsburgh. That game will be played on Wednesday at noon.
No. 13 Wake Forest and No. 12 NC State play in the first tournament game at noon on Tuesday. The winner will play No. 5 Duke at 2 PM on Wednesday.
Boston College (No. 14) and Florida State (No. 11) square off in the other Tuesday game. The tip-off is at 2 PM and the winner plays No. 6 Virginia Tech.
Also, on Wednesday, Georgia Tech (No. 10) will take on Clemson (No. 7).
The semifinal round of the ACC Tournament will take place Friday night. The championship game is Saturday night at 9 PM.
The 2016 ACC Tournament is at Washington, D.C.’s Verizon Center. This is the second time the ACC Tournament has been held in that building. In 2005, the tournament was played there when the building was known as the MCI Center. The Capital Centre in nearby Landover, Maryland hosted the tournament three times (1976, 1981, and 1987).
The UNC basketball team clinched the ACC regular season championship with a Saturday night victory over Duke.
The Tar Heels will be playing for their 18th ACC Tournament Championship. Their last conference tournament win came in 2008.
Starting with the quarterfinal round on Thursday, you can hear all of the ACC Tournament games on 97.9 FM and 1360 AM WCHL.
http://chapelboro.com/sports/unc-sports/unc-basketball-begins-acc-tournament-at-noon-thursday
The University of North Carolina women’s basketball team usually performs well in the ACC Tournament. This year they encountered disappointment, losing their first game in Greensboro Coliseum with an 82-72 overtime loss to Pittsburgh.
With 15.9 seconds left coach Sylvia Hatchell called a timeout, down 64-67. Netting her most important basket of the season, sophomore Jamie Cherry tied the game, forcing overtime with a clutch three-pointer.
The Tar Heels began their first overtime period of the year with a 7-0 Pittsburgh run over two minutes. UNC finally broke through off two free-throws from freshman Destinee Walker, but would only score once more in the final five minutes with a three-pointer from ACC Freshman of the Year, Stephanie Watts.
Watts led the team with 20 points, while Cherry added 18 points. In addition, Walker scored 12 points and redshirt junior Hillary Summers contributed 14 points and 8 rebounds.
Worth noting, Watts hit her 75th three-pointer of the season, most ever for a UNC freshman player.
The Panthers were led by Brenna Wise’s 25 points, followed by Aysia Bugg’s 20.
The Tar Heels and Panthers met once before during the regular season, in which Pitt picked up a 76-60 win.
The game started out well for North Carolina, ending the first period trailing by one, 19-18. The Tar Heels were 8-for-9 with field-goals early on, keeping them in pace with the Panthers, who completed the regular season with an overall 13-17 record. North Carolina was 14-17 overall.
Cherry, Summers and Watts, carried the team in first half points, but with a struggling N’Dea Bryant, Walker and Erika Johnson, UNC entered halftime down 41-33, as Pitt scored 22 second period points, compared to UNC’s 15.
A slow third period saw Pitt score only 6 points, while North Carolina added 14. A 7-0 run for the Tar Heels late in the third quarter with 1:44 left brought them within two, trailing 47-45. The period would end tied up, 47-47.
Walker found her touch, going 4-for-4 with field-goals late in the third and early in the fourth period, keeping UNC tied at 51-51 early on.
UNC re-gained a lead with six minutes remaining, leading 56-53 off a Summers basket. With 15.9 seconds left they trailed 67-64, setting the stage for Cherry’s OT-inducing three-pointer.
UNC could not match Pitts’ 15 overtime points, scoring only five.
Pittsburgh will take on Miami at eleven o’clock tomorrow in Greensboro Coliseum.
http://chapelboro.com/unc-womens-basketball/unc-loses-first-game-in-acc-tournament-with-ot-lossUp 63-54 with 9:59 remaining, the rug was pulled out from under the Tar Heels.
The No. 5 seed North Carolina men’s basketball team fell to third-seeded Notre Dame, 90-82, Saturday night in the ACC Tournament championship game at the Greensboro Coliseum.
***Listen to the story***
Justin Jackson struggled to recapture his Friday form (Todd Melet)
A 26-3 second half run from the Fighting Irish turned the tables in the league newcomer’s favor – giving them their first ACC title and leaving the Tar Heels the disappointed runner-up for the third time in the last four years.
“I love how fearless we are when we step up and take big-time shots. We’ve done that all year though. We really have,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey says.
Tournament MVP Jerian Grant finished with 24 points and 10 assists to lead an overwhelmingly balanced offensive attack for the Irish.
Fellow senior Pat Connaughton tallied 20 points, including four pure shots from behind the arc.
“That was a big-time game for about 30, 32 minutes, and then after that it was a big game if you were a Notre Dame fan. It wasn’t for us,” UNC head coach Roy Williams says.
As for the Tar Heels, junior guard Marcus Paige did all he could, posting 24 points, including five of UNC’s seven made three-pointers.
Paige says despite leaving Greensboro without a trophy, his teammates aren’t going away empty-handed.
Paige did his best to keep the Tar Heels in it (Todd Melet)
“I think we showed a lot of heart this week. We battled four straight times. Obviously, it didn’t go the way we wanted it to today. You know, we were going after 50-50 balls with everything we had. So people can say what they want, but the proof is in the fact that we competed at the highest level this past week,” Paige says.
But what may have been the most decisive factor to the outcome was the foul shooting discrepancy. The Irish got to the free throw line for a whopping 32 attempts while the Heels managed a mere seven shots from the charity stripe.
In the first half, the three-point shooting discrepancy told the tale. The Irish knocked down five of their eleven attempts while the Heels only managed to connect on one of their eight tries.
Additionally, getting to the free throw line was a factor in Notre Dame’s 39-34 lead at intermission. The Irish shot 11 foul shots to Carolina’s measly 2 attempts.
Brice Johnson finished with 20 points and four rebounds (Todd Melet)
Things were going smoothly for the Tar Heels early in the second half. UNC led 63-54 with 9:59 remaining. But from there, the rug was taken out from under them. Carolina froze. Notre Dame rose.
The Irish left the Heels in the dust with a 26-3 run that seized full control of the contest and in turn, earned the program’s first ever conference championship.
The Carolina faithful were sent home to various corners of the Tar Heel State unhappy. The few Notre Dame fans were left to bask in their team’s historic performance, becoming just the third program to ever beat both Duke and Carolina on the way to an ACC Tournament championship held in North Carolina.
Notre Dame (29-5) and Carolina (24-11) will now await their NCAA Tournament placements Sunday evening.
http://chapelboro.com/unc-mens-basketball/26-3-second-half-irish-surge-dooms-tar-heelsIt was quarterfinal Thursday. All the big boys (top 4 seeds) were in action with a spot in the primetime semifinals Friday night on the line. Would any of the top dogs be knocked off their pedestal? Plenty of intrigue always awaits. We’re heating up at the ACC Tourney! Who survived the pressure cooker?
TEAM OF THE DAY: Duke. Complete and utter dominance. The Blue Devils took the Wolfpack to the woodshed and are clearly the team to beat. Enough said.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Look over your shoulder the rest of the friggin’ night, okay. Let’s understand that. So if we shoot a poor percentage tomorrow your butt better not come in here.” – Roy Williams sounding off at a reporter’s attempt to jinx his team’s good shooting
QUARTERFINAL 1: No. 9 FSU vs. No. 1 UVA
The Cavaliers stamped their authority early, jumping out to a 7-0 lead and forcing Leonard Hamilton’s hand with a quick timeout. The Coliseum was more than speckled with a little orange – it was littered with Wahoo fans armed with rested lungs.
But the real story of this game was the anticipated return of Justin Anderson from injury. He didn’t start, but when he finally got into the game, he was met with a standing ovation from the Virginia faithful. Although I didn’t stand with them, boy, it’s nice to see Anderson back playing basketball.
The Golden Girls!
We also quickly discovered why Tony Bennett was named ACC Coach of the Year. He figured out missing shots was no good. And therefore, his Cavaliers promptly knocked down their first six shots. The Seminoles weren’t on the same page, however, struggling to find the basket and what’s more, couldn’t buy and offensive rebound. That hurts.
At the half, FSU was doubled up by UVA, 34-17.
Virginia’s Darion Atkins went down with some sort of leg injury early in the second half. It was a scare for sure, but after a quick respite in the locker room, Atkins was back on the UVA bench.
Meanwhile, the pace of play was grinding to a near standstill. So many timeouts. So many stoppages of play. But on a positive note, some good music was pumping through the Coliseum sound system.
FSU parted the waters so bad on a Cavalier drive to the basket that I almost lost my lunch. Thankfully, I didn’t. But it was a close call. That kind of Ole! defense isn’t in Virginia’s DNA though.
The referees grew some moans of disapproval from the UVA fans. I must say, a couple no-calls on Seminole players seemed to be questionable at best. And I’m not sure official Jamie Luckie knows a travel is not an offensive foul. But nevertheless, FSU cut the deficit down to five points at 39-34 with 9:455 to play. It was a new ballgame, folks!
And nobody knew that better than Leonard Hamilton. So much for his trademark composure. He came out of his shell down the stretch, barking out orders and giving an earful to officials and players alike.
Back and forth down the stretch they came. Both squads were suddenly coming up with enormous shots, trading blows. And would you believe it? With just under six minutes to play, Leonard Hamilton took it too far. The pinstripes got back at him with a technical foul. Can you say game changer?
But ultimately, with the help of a couple clutch makes by Malcolm Brogdon and steady free throw shooting to boot, the Cavaliers put away the Seminoles and booked their spot in Friday’s semifinals.
QUARTERFINAL 2: No. 5 UNC vs. No. 4 Louisville
The offenses wasted no time getting going. Just five minutes in, it was a 9-all tie. Marcus Paige opened proceedings with a three-pointer. Montrezl Harrell was doing his thing inside. JP Tokoto was out of control, settling for jumpers. Not his game.
WAY more toughness was being displayed by the Cardinals. Getting second, third and fourth chance opportunities helps out.
The Louisville dance team threw the gauntlet down as well. They went ALL OUT. No joke. They left the Greensboro Coliseum stunned and may have just created a blossoming rivalry in the ACC – the FSU Golden Girls vs. the Louisville Dance Team. Stay tuned.
Pitino faced off with Roy in an outstanding coaching matchup (Todd Melet)
As for UNC, they went stone cold. A six-minute long drought. Ouch. But a Joel Berry three certainly helped make things feel a little better – for the crowd, too, who was mostly wearing Carolina blue.
But it wasn’t enough for Roy. The jacket was off at the 7:34 mark with his Tar Heels down six.
The Tar Heels had clouded vision of offense. Doubt. Meanwhile, the Cardinals were operating with 20/20 vision – drive to the basket. Confidence.
A nasty ‘shake and bake’ cooked up by Louisville’s Terry Rozier helped earn the Cardinals the 37-32 halftime lead.
Out of the locker room. UNC three. Carolina steal. Brice Johnson dunk. Roar. Rick Pitino timeout. Game tied at 37-all.
The highlight came when Harrell nearly jumped out of the gym to jam one home. Man, that dude can elevate. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels continued to plug away. Paige hit a nasty three right in front of me.
Nothing was separating these two teams for the third game this season. Brice Johnson was putting together a productive half of basketball for UNC, keeping his team in touch with the anticipation and intensity building in the Coliseum.
Harrell continued to fly, and I mean FLY, around the floor down the stretch. He’s a freak of nature. He makes the Cards go. Emotional intensity and physical prowess. Deadly combo.
QUARTERFINAL 3: No. 8 NC State vs. No. 2 Duke
Something big was coming. There was a buzz in the air. Like a prize fight. The build-up is half the fun. There was no doubt Duke vs. N.C. State was the main event Thursday in the Coliseum.
But sometimes, the show doesn’t live up to the hype. This one was a prime example. It was a dud. A stinker. A good memory if you’re a Duke fan. An awful nightmare if you’re a State fan.
Duke shot out of the gates in a hurry, using smart defense and overwhelmingly sharp offense to claim a 26-11 lead with 9:48 to play in the opening half.
Photo courtesy of ESPN.com
Jahlil Okafor was able to rest comfortably on the bench for long stretches. That was scary. Justice Winslow joined him as well. Their services weren’t necessary as Grayson Allen, Quinn Cook and company were doing the deed themselves.
The ‘amoeba zone’ of Duke was frustrating the Wolfpack. In particular, it seemed Cat Barber was completely befuddled. Coach K had not forgotten the loss put on the Devils by NC State earlier in January. I don’t think he forgot about the butt slap either. This was war.
Heck, we even witnessed the ‘Plumlee Air Show’. It was a surprising addition to the night’s events, but it was that kind of night for the men in dark blue.
Mercifully, the halftime buzzer did finally come. The damage, and it was catastrophic, was done. In a dominating performance that took your breath away at times, Duke amassed a 49-22 lead.
I won’t bore you with the second half details. I’ll be honest. I zoned out. Game over. Duke moves on and oh by the way, looks like a legitimate national title contender.
Follow Matt on Twitter @moakes3
http://chapelboro.com/unc-mens-basketball/oakes-outlook-heating-up-in-greensboroThe game started with a Marcus Paige three. A warning shot.
The No. 5 seed North Carolina men’s basketball team overcame a five-point first half deficit to defeat the No. 4 seed Louisville Cardinals, 70-60, Thursday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum.
***Listen to the story***
In the second half, Carolina got the ball inside early and often and rode the bootstraps of Brice Johnson’s 22 points to a spot in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
UNC came on strong down the stretch (Todd Melet)
Johnson says his manhood was challenged by the Cardinals. He defended it admirably after a halftime pep talk.
“Just be a man. That is the biggest emphasis throughout the entire halftime. Coach Davis pointed it out and Coach Williams pointed it out too. He said he doesn’t care when it comes to anybody’s manhood, so I had to step up and be a big-time player,” Johnson says.
Tokoto played well with four fouls late in the game (Todd Melet)
UNC head coach Roy Williams, who passed Phog Allen with 747 career wins, says Kennedy Meeks delivered more quality minutes than he had anticipated going in. After all, it was doubtful whether Meeks, who’s been battling a fever all week, would even suit up.
“Got more out of him than I thought I was going to get. But I think he did some good things. His passing is important to us,” Coach Williams says.
With the victory, the Tar Heels improved to 23-10 on the season while the Cardinals dropped to a 24-8 ledger overall.
Louisville head coach Rick Pitino says the zone defense employed by UNC in the second half gave his team fits. The Hall of Famer was none too pleased in his postgame presser that lasted all of two questions.
“We had a lot of good looks; we just couldn’t put the shots down, and sometimes it’s very simple when it comes down to that,” Coach Pitino says.
Rick Pitino couldn’t come up with the answers (Todd Melet)
With the game hanging in the balance, the Tar Heels were able to hit big-time shots and come up with defensive stands in the clutch. After so many close calls going the other way, Paige says this win meant a lot to UNC.
“We’ve been in so many of those games that it’s good we’re starting to figure out how to be more poised in those games. So we’re not rushing quick shots any more as much, and we’re taking care of the ball for the most part. So those are the two biggest things we’re doing differently down the stretch,” Paige says.
Brice Johnson was fired up Thursday afternoon (Todd Melet)
The rebounding department was deadlocked at 38 apiece, but it was Carolina who was able to convert more points in the paint in the topsy-turvy affair.
Louisville’s Terry Rozier finished with a team-leading 20 points and Wayne Blackshear followed suit with 18 points of his own, but it wasn’t enough to overcome 35-percent shooting as a team. That didn’t match up well with UNC’s 42-percent afternoon.
Next up for the Tar Heels on semifinal Friday will be a meeting with the top-seeded Virginia Cavaliers, who dispatched Florida State Thursday, 58-44.
http://chapelboro.com/unc-mens-basketball/tar-heels-clip-cardinals-advance-to-acc-semisIt’s that time of the year. A return to Tournament Town. My drive down I-40 was met with springtime sunshine filtering through a thin layer of wispy clouds. I pumped out some country songs on the local radio station.
Driving past Stamey’s BBQ and the Natty Greene’s beer garden across the street, I knew I was in the right place.
I pulled into the Coliseum parking lot and was greeted with a live golden oldies concert in full swing on the Fan Fest stage. Fans decked out in red, garnet, orange and Carolina blue bustled about. This was 11 a.m. mind you. Anticipation was in the air. Everything felt right.
Perhaps its the purist in me, but it’s too bad the Tournament will depart for its northern tour next year. Sweet tea. Hospitality. Warm weather. This is ACC country. The Barclays Center in New York? Eh. Not so much.
Photo courtesy of axs.com
So I’ll try to savor my time down south even more this year. We won’t get another southern swing until 2019 in Charlotte and 2020 back here in Greensboro.
But the spotlight should be on the hoops. That’s why we’re all here after all. Big-time contests in the nation’s premier college basketball conference are on tap. For some, the stay in Greensboro ends. But for the lucky ones, the trip continues.
TEAM OF THE DAY: North Carolina. Paige seems healthy. Tokoto is dialed in on defense. The Heels look formidable. Of course, that could all change in a hurry tomorrow.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Sometimes that’s just the way it goes.” – FSU Coach Leonard Hamilton. Well said, Coach. Well said.
GAME ONE: No. 9 FSU vs. No. 8 Clemson (12 p.m. tip)
First of all, let’s get this straight FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton is the definition of cool. You can’t outcool the King of Cool. He stands on the sidelines, expressionless, one hand in pocket. Sometimes, I wonder what he’s thinking. ‘What am I going to have for dinner? How did we turn the ball over there? I swear, if I have to say something to one of my guys…’
We may never know…but the action on the hardwood was heating up to keep me distracted any way. Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who scored like 30 points in four minutes a few weeks back, was back to his usual tricks, bursting out of the gate for nine points in the first nine minutes.
Another storied ACC tradition continued with a strange twist. The world-famous FSU Golden Girls returned to the Coliseum floor…WITH PANTS. Many folks in attendance were severely disappointed.
Clemson, meanwhile, struggled to find any semblance of an offense for large stretches of the fist half, but as it turned it, only trailed by a mere seven points at the half.
FSU has a special weapon in Xavier Rathan-Mayes (NoledOut.com).
Out of the locker room, it was the FSU perimeter shooting that came to life, giving the Noles some separation from the Tigers at 44-33 with 15:28 to play.
In a touching timeout tribute, a military veteran and his family were recognized at midcourt. He received a standing ovation and then received keys to a new home. Pretty cool stuff!
Back to hoops. The game dragged on for well over two hours and twenty minutes. The last five minutes seemed to last for an eternity. No joke. Timeouts were pulled out of their holsters. The Seminoles, though, despite a serious effort down the stretch to do otherwise, were able to hang on and take the matinee opener, 76-73. XRM finished with 30 points.
GAME TWO: No. 5 UNC vs. No. 12 BC (2 p.m. tip…yeah, about that.)
A Marcus Paige three gave UNC its first lead. The crowd erupted.
The Tar Heels, getting offensive production early and often from a smorgasbord of players, set a quick tempo early on. That’s always to Carolina’s liking.
The Eagles were no doubt motivated to prove a point. They were riding a four-game winning streak into this one after all.
Marcus Paige for three! (Todd Melet)
The all-important ‘points in the paint’ stat was dominated by UNC in the first half with a 20-8 edge.
In a surprising move, Stilman White was even thrown into the fray by Roy Williams, receiving his first meaningful minutes since…well…the Elite Eight a few years back.
Carolina got out in transition. That helped. The Tar Heels also fought relentlessly for second chance opportunities. They converted on a ton of them and were rewarded with a 43-30 halftime lead.
Out of the second half gates, Carolina continued to coast. Nate Britt showed comfort with his shot. Jackson Simmons contributed a beautiful ball screen. Roy continued to toy with his lineup.
The biggest surprise of the game was the relative silence of BC star Olivier Hanlan, at least for the majority of it. After dropping 25 points in the first round, the junior misfired a bit Wednesday, especially from behind the arc. A lot f that had to do with J.P. Tokoto’s fine defense.
Roy Williams called Tokoto the ‘riverboat gambler’ in his postgame press conference. Well, the gamble paid off on this day.
Follow Matt on Twitter @moakes3
http://chapelboro.com/unc-mens-basketball/oakes-outlook-greensboro-gamesStephanie Mavunga led the Tar Heels to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament Thursday night with a game-high 23 points over Georgia Tech in an 84-64 win in Greensboro. Carolina is a No. 6 seed in the tournament and is lifted to a 24-7 overall record.
Mavunga also finished the night with 16 rebounds and 8 blocks. She said she felt tonight was one of the best night’s to make a statement.
Stephanie Mavunga gets double-teamed often.
“I really had to step up big,” Mavunga said. “Especially after having such a bad game last game at Duke, I felt like I had let my team down and needed to step up tonight.”
Just before halftime, UNC thought it would take a break with a 13-point lead, until Tech guard Antonia Peresson shot an impressive half court shot at the buzzer to bring them behind the Heels 37-27.
Carolina went through a short scare at the beginning of the second half when Allisha Gray went down hard on the court with an apparent right ankle injury.
“During the game when Allisha got knocked down, I didn’t like that,” Mavunga said. “And seeing her like that made me furious, it ticked me off and actually motivated me.”
When Gray checked back in after a quick trip to the locker room, UNC found their sync and took over on the court in the final minutes – never letting Georgia Tech get back in within seven points.
Jamie Cherry played well at point in limited minutes.
Coming behind Mavunga in scoring was Gray with 14 points and three assists alongside Latifah Coleman with 10 points on 40 percent three-point shooting.
UNC shot 50 percent from the floor and scored 21 points off of the Yellow Jackets’ 18 turnovers.
Georgia Tech was led by Kaela (KAY-luh) Davis and Zaire (Z-eye-AIR) O’Neil with 14 points apiece while Aaliyah Whiteside added 13.
On Friday, UNC will meet Louisville as they make their ACC Tournament debut. The Tar Heels are hoping to redeem themselves from the 75-66 loss at Louisville in February.
http://chapelboro.com/unc-womens-basketball/tar-heels-take-down-gt-in-first-round-of-accs
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