The North Carolina women’s basketball team defeated Virginia on Sunday, 70-53, snapping a two-game win streak by the Cavaliers.
What happened?
North Carolina (16-11, 7-6 ACC) started the game out hot, connecting on its first two 3-pointers and hitting five of their first six shots. North Carolina went up by as many as 7 points, but Virginia (10-15, 4-8 ACC) closed out the first quarter by going on an 8-0 run to take the lead, before redshirt sophomore Jocelyn Jones hit two free throws to end the quarter.
The second quarter saw UNC again go on a run to push the lead. That run included Leah Church converting a four-point play, and Koenen scoring six of the team’s 15 points all on layups in transition. Virginia once again went on an 8-0 run at the end of the quarter though, leaving UNC up just 4 points at the end of the half.
Sophomore Janelle Bailey came into the second half and scored a quick 4 points in the post, making a basket and drawing a foul to hit two free throws. She had 8 points in the third alone, to end the game with 14. The Tar Heels ended the third quarter up 12 after the Cavaliers were held scoreless for the first 4.5 minutes. The fourth quarter saw Paris Kea come alive to score seven of her 16 total points, pushing the lead all the way to 17 to end the game.
Who stood out?
It was a balanced scoring effort by North Carolina, with four different players scoring in double digits. Stephanie Watts had a strong start in the opening of the game, scoring five points in the first quarter, but injured her knee towards the end of the quarter and did not return to play. Koenen scored 14 points on 7-11 shooting, most of which came in transition.
Kea led the team in scoring with 16, but also registered 8 turnovers to only 3 assists in the game. Virginia outscored North Carolina on points off of turnovers, 21-9.
