No. 14 UNC women's basketball falls to No. 25 Georgia Tech, 82-76, in ACC opener

No. 14 North Carolina women’s basketball (10-2, 0-1 ACC) fell to No. 25 Georgia Tech (11-0, 1-0 ACC), 82-76, on Sunday afternoon in Carmichael Arena.

After starting the game on a hot streak, the Tar Heels couldn’t seem to match the Yellow Jackets’ aggressive play and fast pace on both ends. North Carolina was stifled by Georgia Tech’s defensive unit and looked disconnected on the defensive end — allowing 52 shooting and getting out-rebounded 41-24.

“We were worried about their best three players, we were worried about their attack on the paint, we were worried about them on the offensive glass,” head coach Courtney Banghart said. “The things that we were most worried about, they were able to do to us.” 

The Tar Heels fired off a 7-0 start, thanks to five quick points by graduate guard Lexi Donarski. After graduate forward Alyssa Ustby grabbed the tip, Donarski raced up the right side for a quick layup — then drained a left wing 3-pointer off of a stolen inbounds pass.

A minute later, the Yellow Jackets crafted an eager response. A pair of fast break layups by Morgan and graduate forward Zoesha Smith helped Georgia Tech cut the lead to five, 9-4.

A 6-0 Georgia Tech run tied the game 12-12 after a two-minute UNC scoring drought. North Carolina reclaimed the lead off of two free throws by junior guard Trayanna Crisp — its last of the game.

Carnegie drained a deep 3-pointer, and Morgan stole the ball on the ensuing possession for another fast-break layup. The Yellow Jackets led, 17-14.

A series of fouls and free throws saw the Tar Heels end the first quarter down by nine, 26-17.

A flurry of three pointers ensued in the second quarter. Sophomore guard Reniya Kelly and Georgia Tech junior guard Kara Dunn took turns draining back-to-back 3-pointers, before the Yellow Jackets took over this game on the offensive end.

Morgan drained a 3-pointer and skillfully weaved through the defense for a layup on consecutive possessions to give GT a double-digit lead, 41-28, with four minutes remaining in the half.

Graduate guard Grace Townsend found senior center Maria Gakdeng inside, who got the and-one layup to fall through contact — but failed to convert from the charity stripe.

Just as the Tar Heels gained momentum, junior guard Kara Dunn drained an easy 3-pointer to give the Yellow Jackets a 50-34 lead at the half.

GT picked up right where they left off out of the break. Senior forward Kayla Blackshear charged to the basket for a putback layup that extended the lead to 18. The Tar Heels quickly responded with a Gakdeng layup, looking to find their footing offensively.

“I needed to be more aggressive,” Gakdeng said. “In the second half, that’s kind of where I started to score more, started to ask for the ball more — and that’s kind of where I got most of my points from.”

Junior guard Indya Nivar found the bottom of the net for the Tar Heels on consecutive possessions, but despite this, Carnegie drained two difficult jumpers to give the Yellow Jackets a 22-point lead with over two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The Tar Heels amped up their intensity in the final quarter, coming alive for a 10-0 scoring run to cut the lead to ten with six minutes remaining. 

Townsend raced through the Georgia Tech defense to cut the lead to single digits, 74-66, with two minutes remaining. 

“Grace kind of led that [run] at the forefront with being aggressive on the ball,” Nivar said. “We just fed off that energy, and that really helped us towards the end.”

Despite finding their offensive rhythm, the Tar Heels had fallen too far behind to catch up to the Yellow Jackets in this matchup, and were overpowered 82-76 in their ACC opener.

“We didn’t play well enough in the first half to sustain their runs, and they played well,” Banghart said. “So it’s a good team that also played well.”

The Tar Heels look to bounce back in their Jumpman Invitational matchup against Florida on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m in the Spectrum Center.

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