A scoring drought came at the worst possible time for the UNC women’s basketball team on Thursday night, as the Tar Heels failed to score for the final 3:45 in a 63-59 loss at No. 5 NC State. Carolina hasn’t won in Raleigh under head coach Courtney Banghart.

Both teams were hard-pressed to find any consistent offense. The Wolfpack shot just 24-61 (39.3 percent), while Carolina wasn’t much better at 25-60 (41.7 percent). The two teams combined to shoot a miserable 7-34 on three-pointers. NC State found its advantage at the line, shooting 12-16 on free throws. UNC made just five visits to the line. For the game, NC State held a 19-12 foul advantage.

Deja Kelly led all scorers with 21 points, 15 of which came in a hot third quarter. Carolina shot 9-14 (64.3 percent) in the period and cut what had been a seven-point halftime lead down to one at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Tar Heels briefly took the lead on baskets from Lexi Donarski and Maria Gakdeng, but NC State answered with a 9-0 run to seize the advantage right back.

The Wolfpack held a 62-54 lead with 4:33 remaining, but five straight points from Reniya Kelly cut that lead to just three in less than a minute. Unfortunately, a three-pointer from Kelly would be Carolina’s last points on the night. The Tar Heels had plenty of chances to get closer, but missed their final six shots. That doesn’t include an offensive foul on Donarski away from the ball with 10 seconds remaining to give the ball back to the Wolfpack. For its part, NC State missed its final five shots, but still found a way to win.

This is the first time all season Carolina has lost consecutive ACC games, and it drops the Tar Heels to 7-3 in conference play and 15-7 overall. Another difficult matchup awaits UNC on Sunday, as it hosts No. 17 Virginia Tech at Carmichael Arena at noon.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Karl B. DeBlaker

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