After a late buzzer beater by Elizabeth Kitley, the No. 22 North Carolina women’s basketball team (19-9, 10-7 ACC) fell to No. 9 Virginia Tech (23-4, 13-4 ACC), 61-59, in Carmichael Arena on Thursday evening.
What happened?
Redshirt senior Eva Hodgson and junior forward Alyssa Ustby returned from injury, and senior forward Malu Tshitenge also started in honor of senior night. Junior guard Deja Kelly drew first blood with a mid-range jumper.
The Tar Heels built an early 8-0 lead when Kelly knocked down another jumper and layup while Ustby scored a layup. Virginia Tech didn’t score until over five minutes inwhen guard Kayana Traylor drove inside for a layup of her own.
The Hokies finally got their star center Elizabeth Kitley going on a post-entry pass for an easy lay-in, but Hodgson got to the line and answered with two made free throws. Junior guard Kennedy Todd-Williams began to heat up, scoring five points including a fastbreak triple. Star Hokie guard Georgia Amoore closed out the first quarter with a 3-pointer and UNC led, 16-9.
As Todd-Williams and Kelly carried the UNC offense, Virginia Tech began to chip away at North Carolina’s lead, with Traylor and Kitley connecting on multiple layups and turnaround jumpers. The Tar Heels quickly found themselves trailing by one point when Kitley spun for a fadeaway jumper in the paint.
After being guarded tightly by redshirt first-year guard Kayla McPherson and Todd-Williams, Amoore finally found some breathing room on a quick inbounds play, where she drained a wide open corner three off a Kitley tapback pass. UNC led 32-28 at halftime.
Amoore opened up the second frame by splitting UNC’s defense for an inside score. Kelly missed a layup on the other end, but Tshitenge was there for the putback. A short scoring spurt backed by a Kitley jumper and two Traylor triples put the Hokies up 38-36. As time ticked off the third quarter clock, McPherson poked away the ball from Amoore and raced down the court for an and-one fastbreak layup.
As Amoore remained stagnant early in the fourth quarter, Traylor and Kitley continued to bolster Virginia Tech’s offense, combining for seven more points. Kelly hit two mid-range jumpers to keep the Tar Heels in it, but Amoore answered with a jumper and Kitley scored a putback to build a 55-51 lead with 2:19 to play.
