University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Virginia Tech
Balanced Scoring Holds Off Hokies
February 12, 2016 | Women's Basketball
Stephanie Watts paced North Carolina (14-12, 4-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Destinee Walker had 17 points. Hillary Summers notched her seventh double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Jamie Cherry had 15 points and five assists.
Hannah Young had a game-high 22 points for Virginia Tech (15-9, 3-8). Vanessa Panousis had 14 points off the bench for the Hokies, who were coming off a win Sunday at long-time rival Virginia.
Carolina led by a fairly comfortable 38-21 margin at the half, but Panousis led the Hokies' charge to get back into the game in the third quarter. She scored eight of her teams first 19 points in the period to get Virginia Tech within 46-40 of the Tar Heels.
Watts and Walker answered with consecutive three-pointers later in the third to put Carolina up 14, 54-40. The Heels closed the quarter on a 14-3 run to lead 60-43 heading to the final stanza.
The Hokies again rallied to get back in the game just like they did in the third quarter. A pair of free throws from Regan Magarity put an exclamation point on a 20-4 run that made it 64-63, but the Heels would never relinquish its lead down the stretch.
Carolina held off the Hokies by the skin of its teeth by converting 7-of-8 free throws in the final 44 seconds when Virginia Tech got within a single point on three separate occasions. Erika Johnson, a 39 percent shooter at the line for the season, made two huge shots to keep her club in front.
After shooting 66.7 percent in the second half of Sunday's win at Boston College, the Heels stayed hot from the field making seven of its first 10 shots to grab an 18-8 lead. Cherry and Walker scored seven points apiece in the early going for the Tar Heels.
In the final moments of the first quarter, Watts cleanly stuffed Dominique Powell as she appeared headed for an easy layup. The loose ball was picked up by Carolina and the outlet pass found Summers in the paint for two points, capping a 15-2 run, and giving UNC a 23-10 lead after 10 minutes.
Both teams were sluggish for a good portion of the second quarter, but a Watts three-pointer from the corner had Carolina up 28-13. Moments later Walker knocked down a deep triple for a 36-19 advantage over the Hokies.
Cherry had 12 points at the break. Carolina shot 50.0 percent from the field and led 38-21 at intermission.
North Carolina visits No. 10 Florida State on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Tallahassee, Florida, on ESPN2/WatchESPN.
