The No. 17 UNC women’s basketball team used balanced scoring and hot outside shooting to dispatch Georgia Tech in Carmichael Arena Sunday afternoon. The 70-57 win is Carolina’s fifth in a row after losing four straight, and improves the team to 14-5 overall and 5-3 in ACC play. Its ranking in the AP Top 25 poll is likely to rise for the second straight week.
Four UNC starters scored in double figures, with junior guard Deja Kelly leading the way with 18 points. Kelly had one of her best shooting days of the season, as the she knocked down seven of 14 shots from the floor and hit a season-high four three-pointers. Kelly hadn’t even made three in a game this season prior to Sunday.
Alyssa Ustby continued her standout play for Carolina, scoring 17 points of her own on 7-10 shooting, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out three assists. Kennedy Todd-Williams (13 points) and Eva Hodgson (10) each also reached double figures. All four of the aforementioned Tar Heels shot at least 50 percent from the floor, and all four made at least one three. Carolina shot 8-18 from downtown, its best showing since the Indiana game on December 1.
Unsurprisingly, that efficient play led to another respectable shooting day for the Tar Heels, who posted a 47.4 mark (22-57) against the Yellow Jackets. Combined with Thursday night’s 48.9 mark against Duke, it’s the first time in more than a month Carolina has shot at least 40 percent in back-to-back games.
The final score belied UNC’s level of dominance in the game; after falling behind 7-5 early, the Tar Heels never trailed again and led by as many as 21 points in the third quarter. The Yellow Jackets cut that lead down to 13 early in the fourth quarter by got no further.
The five ACC wins in a row are the program’s most under fourth-year head coach Courtney Banghart. That hot streak has coincided with playing four of five games at home. Now, the Tar Heels will make up for that with four of their next five games coming away from Carmichael Arena. The first of those games sees the team travel to Pittsburgh on January 26 at 6 p.m.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jerome M. Ibrahim
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