UNC Women's Basketball Bounces Back With Big Win Over Virginia Tech

Getting the sour taste of Thursday night’s blowout loss to NC State was the goal for the UNC women’s basketball team Sunday evening. And once the buzzer sounded, they’d done that and then some, taking another decisive ACC victory over Virginia Tech, 71-46.

That's a final from Carmichael ⤵️#GoHeels x #InPursuit pic.twitter.com/djTKGrvdZr

— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) January 10, 2022

Carolina improves to 14-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play, while dealing the Hokies their first ACC loss of the season. Virginia Tech received votes in last week’s AP Poll and had a 22-point win over No. 17 Duke to its name. Coming into Sunday, the Hokies were also ranked No. 12 in the NCAA’s NET rating system, making them the highest-rated opponent UNC has beaten this season. Carolina currently sits at No. 5 in the NET.

“We have a ton of respect for Virginia Tech. I think it’s one of the best teams on our schedule,” UNC head coach Courtney Banghart said. “Really experienced, really talented, good players at every spot. We said before the game we wanted this to be a return to ‘us.'”

One of the ways UNC returned to ‘us’ was once again flexing their muscles on defense. Carolina allowed only 17 points in the first half to take an 18-point lead into the locker room. The Hokies managed just 11 more in the third quarter, and UNC finished the game on cruise control. Carolina’s defensive scoring average of 51.7 is second-best in the ACC and No. 11 in the country. The Tar Heels have allowed 70 or more points just three times this season.

On offense, UNC saw four players reach double figures, including Eva Hodgson, who knocked in a season-high 19 points off the bench. Her four three-pointers made in five attempts against the Hokies is also a season-high, and moves Hodgon’s season three-point percentage to a sizzling 41.5 percent. She’s reached double figures in five of her last six games.

“Thursday night’s game didn’t sit well with anyone on our team. It’s not how you want to play against a ranked team,” Hodgson said. “But we learned from it, we watched a lot of film and we attacked practice the next two days.”

Deja Kelly continued her double-digit points streak with 15 against Virginia Tech. She’s now scored at least 10 in each of UNC’s 15 games this season. Kelly’s 17.6 points per game leads the team and ranks third in the ACC. But her most eye-catching statistic Sunday was her career-high 10 rebounds, giving Kelly her first double-double as a Tar Heel. 13 points from Alyssa Ustby and 12 from Anya Poole rounded out the evening of balanced scoring.

“Our process is what it is and you want every step to be forward, and that’s not always the way it works,” Banghart said. “You have to endure some steps backwards and [the NC State loss] was a step backwards that we had to endure. But we didn’t let it waver who we are and what we do, and our guys showed it tonight. We just beat a really good team pretty convincingly by playing both ends really solidly together.”

Carolina will now take a seven-day layoff before another ranked road game, this time against the No. 20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend next Sunday. The last time UNC faced off against a ranked Irish side, the Tar Heels took down the No. 1 team in the land in a memorable afternoon at Carmichael Arena in 2019. However, the Tar Heels are winless in South Bend since the Irish joined the ACC in 2014, with each loss coming by at least 18 points.

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Anthony Sorbellini

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UNC Women’s Basketball Bounces Back With Big Win Over Virginia Tech

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