Brittany Rountree's defense key in victory over Georgia Tech

GREENSBORO — North Carolina sophomore forward Stephanie Mavunga's teammates said they'd always have her back.

As a freshman at UNC, they'd tell her they would be there to protect her back when she chose to front — aggressively deny a player from receiving the ball in the post by playing in front of them and facing the ball-handler — her opponent.

The defensive strategy requires help from a teammate to prevent a lob pass for an easy layup. And more often than not, that help — the teammates who said they'd be there for her — would be absent. All of them except for senior guard Brittany Rountree.

"She’s like, ‘I’ve got you, Steph, I’ve got you, Steph,’" said Mavunga after UNC's 84-64 win against Georgia Tech on Thursday. "That assures me, like, she really does have me."

And in the sixth-seeded Tar Heels' (24-7, 10-6 ACC) triumph in the second round of the ACC tournament, Rountree's defensive prowess stung the 11th-seeded Yellow Jackets (18-14, 7-9 ACC).  

"Brittany is the best, the best, defensive player I’ve ever played with, played against, whatever," Mavunga said. "She’s the best defensive player I’ve ever seen."

For most of the game, the defensive specialist was delegated the sole task of checking sophomore guard Kaela Davis, who earned first team All-ACC honors on Tuesday.

Entering Thursday's contest, Davis — who was ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect by ESPN HoopGurlz in the class of 2013 and set the ACC single season scoring record for a freshman — was averaging 19.6 points per game and ranked third in the ACC in scoring. 

Davis made her presence known early, knocking down a 3-pointer just over one minute into the first half for her first points of the game. She then reeled off three more points, capped by a game-tying free throw at the 15:21 mark. 

But Rountree suddenly increased her defensive pressure, and Davis failed to convert on a shot attempt until she drilled another 3-pointer with 2:50 remaining before halftime. The Tar Heels capitalized, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 22-11 during Davis' first-half scoring drought. 

Behind Rountree's smothering defensive effort, Davis connected on only two of her 10 second-half field goal attempts and finished the game having shot 5-of-22 from the field.

"We played off the point guard a little bit and one thing I did was guard Kaela Davis, so we played great team defense and played Carolina basketball," Rountree said.

Mavunga, who finished with a career-high eight blocks, said Rountree's hard work on the defensive end of the floor motivated her and the rest of her teammates to exert the same sort of effort.  

"I thought that they came out and they were very, very physical and aggressive, and this time of the year you’ve got to be very physical and aggressive," said Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph.

Mavunga has come to expect nothing else from Rountree in terms of her defensive skills and communication. She knows that no matter what situation arises, the senior will be there to help.

"She says she’s got me and she’s probably going to get the steal, and if she doesn’t get the steal, there’s going to be a stop somehow," Mavunga said. "Something is going to happen. There’s no way that someone is going to score, and it’s not going to be easy.

"I know that I can really count on her to be back there."

Mavunga's teammates once told her to count on them. But on Thursday, they counted on Rountree.

She had their backs.

sports@dailytarheel.com