Clutch free-throw shooting from Deja Kelly down the stretch helped the UNC women’s basketball team salt away a 73-68 win at Georgia Tech on Thursday night. The win improves Carolina to 5-1 in ACC play, its best start since the 2013-14 season.

Kelly made six consecutive foul shots in the final 22 seconds and finished 8-10 from the line in the fourth quarter. Carolina needed every one of those points, as the Yellow Jackets nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback after trailing by 14. Georgia Tech used a four-point play to cut a 67-60 lead to 67-64, then forced a turnover on UNC’s next possession. The Tar Heels escaped disaster when the Jackets’ Tonie Morgan traveled under the basket, giving the ball back to UNC. Kelly’s free throws did the rest.

Kelly finished with 27 points on the night, giving her three games in a row and six on the season with at least 20 points scored. She played all 40 minutes.

“Deja’s just not a kid you worry about,” said head coach Courtney Banghart. “Now that people are settled in to how we need to play, she’s allowing herself to get into her groove.”

Alyssa Ustby added 15 points of her own, though she found herself saddled with foul trouble late in the game. Carolina got a spark off the bench from Teonni Key, who scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds in 14 minutes of game action. Both totals are season highs for Key, who’d scored only 10 combined points in the previous five games.

“She trusts she’s gonna keep getting better,” Banghart said of Key, who missed the start of the season due to a lower-body injury. “She knows how much we value her and need her… what else could we want?”

The win moves Carolina to 13-5 overall on the season. At 5-1 in league play, the Tar Heels are tied with Syracuse for second place behind No. 14 Louisville. The Cardinals are the only team yet to lose in ACC play. UNC will have a chance to end that run when Louisville visits Carmichael Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Women’s Basketball on Twitter

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