After perhaps the most triumphant victory in head coach Sylvia Hatchell’s 1,004-win career, the North Carolina women’s basketball team descended from the mountaintop in a double-digit loss at Virginia. The Cavaliers (14-7, 6-1 ACC) topped the Tar Heels (14-7, 4-4 ACC), 82-70, in Charlottesville on Thursday night.
What happened?
Despite a 21-point effort from center Janelle Bailey, the Tar Heels couldn’t climb out of a 15-point halftime deficit away from home. Despite the deep hole, North Carolina still had reason to hope for a comeback.
The Tar Heels had rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat Duke in overtime their last time out Sunday. Earlier in the year, the team came back from 18 down to beat Colorado in overtime. Both of those games were at home, though.
Coming back from being down double-digits in the second half on the road in the ACC is a much tougher task. North Carolina’s late rally cut Virginia’s lead to eight in the final two minutes, but the mountain was ultimately too high to climb.
Who stood out?
Bailey, who averages 15.4 points per game, led all scorers in the game. Paris Kea (18 points), Jamie Cherry (14) and Taylor Koenen (14) joined Bailey in double digits. Outside of those four, the Tar Heels got virtually no help.
Jaelynn Murray, the other starter, was held scoreless while Leah Church’s three points were the team’s only bench points. Church’s performance was a steep drop-off after she set a career high by scoring 19 points in the team’s thrilling win over Duke on Sunday.
