University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Plays At Georgia Tech Thursday On ESPN3
February 5, 2014 | Women's Basketball
North Carolina (17-5, 5-3 ACC) will put its perfect 4-0 road record to the test over the next two weeks with four games away from Chapel Hill, beginning with the Yellow Jackets, who enter the contest 14-8 overall, and 4-5 in the ACC.
The Tar Heels snapped a three-game losing streak to the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta last year with a 60-58 win. The last two matchups at Georgia Tech have been decided by a combined three points.
It will be a homecoming of sorts for Carolina's two top scorers - Diamond DeShields (16.6) and Allisha Gray (13.9). DeShields grew up in Norcross, a suburb of Atlanta, while Gray hails from Sandersville, about a two hour ride southeast of Atlanta, centrally located between Augusta and Macon.
Carolina continues to lead the ACC in two key defensive categories - field goal percentage defense (34.8%) and steals (12.7), and is second in blocks (5.1). However, the Tar Heels must shore up its defensive effort after allowing its opponents to shoot a combined 53.3 percent in the last three halves of basketball. That includes Miami's 57% performance on Sunday, becoming the first team all season to shoot better than 44 percent against the Tar Heels.
Georgia Tech picked up a 77-66 win at Pittsburgh on Monday night, snapping a two-game losing streak. Freshman Kaela Davis recorded her fifth double-double of the season, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Senior Tyaunna Marshall scored a team-high 23 points, and is 32 points away from becoming the programs all-time leading scorer.
Carolina plays at No. 5 Duke on Monday at 7 p.m., as part of Rivalry Week on ESPN2. The Tar Heels return home Thursday, Feb. 13 to host Pittsburgh at 6 p.m., for another "Throwback Thursday" event.
