#11 UNC led by 20 at the break and held off UVa. in the second half to post a 71-60 win on Thursday night.
The Cavaliers made one field goal in the final 10:26 of the first half to trail 42-22 at the break. In the second half, the Cavaliers outscored the Tar Heels, 38-29, but couldn’t erase the first-half deficit.
Telia McCall (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) came up just shy of getting her fourth straight double-double, finishing the game with 13 points and eight rebounds, going 4-for-8 from the field with two three-pointers (in three attempts). Kelsey Wolfe (Jr., Germantown, Md.)also finished the game with 13 points with a pair of three-pointers.
Sarah Imovioh (So., Abuja, Nigeria) scored eight points with seven rebounds in eight minutes of playing time, with all eight points and five rebounds coming in six minutes of playing time in the second half.
“I was disappointed with how we came out,” said head coach Joanne Boyle. “North Carolina is a good team this year and their record shows it. We didn’t respond the way we needed to.”
The Cavaliers kept the game close in the first five minutes with a jumper from Ataira Franklin (Jr., Bowie, Md.) knotting the game at 8. The Tar Heels, who started the game making 10 of their first 15 shots, went on a 15-4 run, taking a 23-12 lead with 11:27 left in the half. Wolfe and China Crosby (Sr., New York, N.Y.) hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to five, 23-18, with 10:26 left in the first half.
Virginia would make one field goal the remainder of the period, a layup from Simone Egwu (Sr., Odenton, Md.) at 2:27, to go into the break trailing 42-22.
North Carolina began the second half on a 5-0 run, with Faith Randolph (Fr., Derwood, Md.) scoring the Cavaliers’ first points on the period with a pull-up jumper at the free throw line to make it 47-24 with 18:50 left in the game.
Three-pointers from Randolph and McCall got the deficit back to 20, 51-31, with 16 minutes left in the game. The Cavaliers outscored the Tar Heels, 22-18, through the first 11 minutes of the second half, and finished the period with a 38-29 advantage.
The Cavaliers had 24 turnovers, with 16 coming in the first half. North Carolina scored 32 points in the game off turnovers.
“North Carolina played tough defense,” Boyle said. “I thought we were somewhat lackadaisical with the ball. That’s how Carolina wins games. They turn you over and they get layups and second-chance points and things that have to be somewhat under your control.”
Egwu scored six points with 10 rebounds, with two assists and two blocks. Crosby finished with seven points and five assists.
With the loss, Virginia falls to 11-6 (3-3 ACC). North Carolina improves to 18-1 (6-0 ACC).
The Cavaliers will be back home on Sunday, Jan. 20 when they host Miami at 2 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena. The game will be streamed live online via ESPN3.
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