The UNC women’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a flurry of threes from Virginia on Sunday afternoon in Charlottesville, as the unranked Cavaliers defeated No. 20 Carolina 81-66. The loss snaps UNC’s four-game winning streak and is just its second defeat in conference play this season.

UNC started hot, leading Virginia by as many as 12 points in the first quarter on the strength of an 11-0 run. Reniya Kelly made three three-pointers in the first five minutes alone on her way to a career-high 20 points. But the tide turned in the second quarter, as Virginia used four made threes to rattle off a 21-5 run, flipping a 29-16 deficit into a 37-34 halftime advantage.

That lead grew to nine points in the third quarter, but Carolina hung tough to whittle the lead down to just one point early in the fourth at 60-59. Virginia used more outside shooting to hit the gas after that, running away from the Tar Heels to win comfortably. The Cavaliers outscored the Tar Heels in the second and fourth quarters by identical 21-9 margins.

For the game, Virginia shot 11-19 (57.9 percent) on threes. By comparison, the Cavaliers shot just 13-31 (41.9 percent) on twos. Carolina couldn’t keep up, making only six threes on the day. Four of those came from Kelly, and three of her makes came in the opening five minutes. Deja Kelly struggled mightily, finishing with just 10 points on 2-13 shooting. Carolina shot 3-15 as a team in the fourth quarter and 10-26 (38.5 percent) in the second half.

UNC now sits at 15-6 overall and 7-2 in conference play. Up next for the Tar Heels is a challenging three-game stretch, starting with a visit to No. 7 NC State on Thursday at 8 p.m. Carolina has not won in Reynolds Coliseum under head coach Courtney Banghart.

 

Featured image via UNC Women’s Basketball on Twitter

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