University of North Carolina Athletics
Thursday, January 23
Atlanta, Ga.
6 PM
North Carolina
at
Georgia Tech
Janelle Bailey and the Tar Heels play at Georgia Tech on Thursday.
Photo by: Dana Gentry
Tar Heels Travel To Take On Yellow Jackets
January 22, 2020 | Women's Basketball
ATLANTA, Ga. – The Atlantic Coast Conference's highest scoring team meets the league's top defense as the North Carolina women's basketball team travels to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech on Thursday. Tipoff at McCamish Pavilion is 6 p.m.
UNC (13-5, 4-3 ACC) leads the conference in scoring with 76 points per game, while the Yellow Jackets (14-4, 5-2) allow a league-low 49.1 points per game.
It's the first stop in a two-game road swing for the Tar Heels, who next travel to play at NC State on Sunday night.
Carolina vs. Georgia Tech
Thursday's game is the 79th meeting in a series that dates back to the 1979-80 season. UNC leads 58-20 and has won the last two and seven of the past 10.
• UNC and Georgia Tech met twice last season, with Carolina winning both. In the regular season matchup, on Jan. 31 in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels won 91-90, with a Janelle Bailey free throw with less than a second to play putting the Tar Heels ahead.
• In the second meeting of the season, in an ACC Tournament second-round game, Leah Church scored a career-high 20 points to lead UNC to an 80-73 win. The Tar Heels were the No. 8 seed and Georgia Tech was No. 9.
UNC by the Numbers
• All five UNC starters are scoring in double figures, averaging between 14.9 and 11.1 ppg.
• UNC leads the ACC in scoring (76.0 ppg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.31). The Tar Heels rank second in turnover margin (+3.50) and third in free throw percentage (.726) and in three-point percentage (.349)
• UNC ranks in the top 10 in the conference in every statistical category, with a 10th-place ranking in blocks the only dip into double digits. Louisville is the only other team in the top 10 in every stat.
• Freshman Malu Tshitenge leads the league in offensive rebounding (4.39 per game) and senior Shayla Bennett leads in assist/turnover ratio (2.14).
Notables
• In ACC games only, UNC leads the conference in defensive rebounding percentage at .747. (UNC has 180 defensive rebounds compared with opponents' 61 offensive rebounds in seven games.)
• All five UNC starters have led the scoring effort in at least two games this season.
• UNC has trailed at halftime in each of the past five games and has come back to win twice, both at home. The Tar Heels trailed by 10 vs. NC State (38-28) and one vs. Miami (38-37) before rebounding to win. Carolina couldn't complete the comeback at Va Tech (36-32) and FSU (40-33), as well as on Sunday against Louisville, when UNC was down 45-29 at the break and lost by seven. UNC is 2-4 when trailing at the half, with Yale (30-28) the other loss.
• The game against Louisville marked the first time this season UNC has lost when shooting better than 40 percent from the field. The Tar Heels hit 46.2 percent of their shots in the loss to the Cardinals.
• The NC State game marked the largest UNC deficit in a win this season. The Tar Heels trailed by 14 in the second quarter.
• Taylor Koenen is just the fifth player in program history to total 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 300 assists. (The four players who previously reached those marks – Tonya Sampson, Erlana Larkins, Rashanda McCants and La'Tangela Atkinson – all went on to play professionally in the WNBA or ABL.)
• Against Miami, Shayla Bennett had seven assists and no turnovers.
• Leah Church has hit her last five three-point attempts – her last two in the FSU game (she was 3-4 overall), both of her shots against Miami and the only one vs. Louisville. For the season, she's shooting .435 (20-46), with every shot coming from long range. She's averaging 4.1 points per game for the season but 7.7 over the past three games.
• Janelle Bailey's 28 points vs. Miami marked the most by a Tar Heel this season.
Scouting the Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech is 14-4 overall and 5-2 in ACC play under first-year head coach Nell Fortner. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 55-48 loss to Boston College at home on Sunday that halted a three-game winning streak and was the team's first loss at home this season. Tech's other ACC loss came at Wake Forest on Jan. 5 (65-60).
• Four Yellow Jackets are scoring in double figures, led by Francesca Pan with 12.7 points per game and Jasmine Carson just behind with 12.2. Lorela Cubaj is the team's top rebounder with 8.2 per game.
• Georgia Tech leads the ACC in defense, allowing 49.1 points per game. Tech also ranks first in three-point percentage defense (opponents shooting 26.8), rebounding defense (opponents averaging 31.7 rebounds per game) and turnover margin (+4.44).
UNC (13-5, 4-3 ACC) leads the conference in scoring with 76 points per game, while the Yellow Jackets (14-4, 5-2) allow a league-low 49.1 points per game.
It's the first stop in a two-game road swing for the Tar Heels, who next travel to play at NC State on Sunday night.
Carolina vs. Georgia Tech
Thursday's game is the 79th meeting in a series that dates back to the 1979-80 season. UNC leads 58-20 and has won the last two and seven of the past 10.
• UNC and Georgia Tech met twice last season, with Carolina winning both. In the regular season matchup, on Jan. 31 in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels won 91-90, with a Janelle Bailey free throw with less than a second to play putting the Tar Heels ahead.
• In the second meeting of the season, in an ACC Tournament second-round game, Leah Church scored a career-high 20 points to lead UNC to an 80-73 win. The Tar Heels were the No. 8 seed and Georgia Tech was No. 9.
UNC by the Numbers
• All five UNC starters are scoring in double figures, averaging between 14.9 and 11.1 ppg.
• UNC leads the ACC in scoring (76.0 ppg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.31). The Tar Heels rank second in turnover margin (+3.50) and third in free throw percentage (.726) and in three-point percentage (.349)
• UNC ranks in the top 10 in the conference in every statistical category, with a 10th-place ranking in blocks the only dip into double digits. Louisville is the only other team in the top 10 in every stat.
• Freshman Malu Tshitenge leads the league in offensive rebounding (4.39 per game) and senior Shayla Bennett leads in assist/turnover ratio (2.14).
Notables
• In ACC games only, UNC leads the conference in defensive rebounding percentage at .747. (UNC has 180 defensive rebounds compared with opponents' 61 offensive rebounds in seven games.)
• All five UNC starters have led the scoring effort in at least two games this season.
• UNC has trailed at halftime in each of the past five games and has come back to win twice, both at home. The Tar Heels trailed by 10 vs. NC State (38-28) and one vs. Miami (38-37) before rebounding to win. Carolina couldn't complete the comeback at Va Tech (36-32) and FSU (40-33), as well as on Sunday against Louisville, when UNC was down 45-29 at the break and lost by seven. UNC is 2-4 when trailing at the half, with Yale (30-28) the other loss.
• The game against Louisville marked the first time this season UNC has lost when shooting better than 40 percent from the field. The Tar Heels hit 46.2 percent of their shots in the loss to the Cardinals.
• The NC State game marked the largest UNC deficit in a win this season. The Tar Heels trailed by 14 in the second quarter.
• Taylor Koenen is just the fifth player in program history to total 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 300 assists. (The four players who previously reached those marks – Tonya Sampson, Erlana Larkins, Rashanda McCants and La'Tangela Atkinson – all went on to play professionally in the WNBA or ABL.)
• Against Miami, Shayla Bennett had seven assists and no turnovers.
• Leah Church has hit her last five three-point attempts – her last two in the FSU game (she was 3-4 overall), both of her shots against Miami and the only one vs. Louisville. For the season, she's shooting .435 (20-46), with every shot coming from long range. She's averaging 4.1 points per game for the season but 7.7 over the past three games.
• Janelle Bailey's 28 points vs. Miami marked the most by a Tar Heel this season.
Scouting the Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech is 14-4 overall and 5-2 in ACC play under first-year head coach Nell Fortner. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 55-48 loss to Boston College at home on Sunday that halted a three-game winning streak and was the team's first loss at home this season. Tech's other ACC loss came at Wake Forest on Jan. 5 (65-60).
• Four Yellow Jackets are scoring in double figures, led by Francesca Pan with 12.7 points per game and Jasmine Carson just behind with 12.2. Lorela Cubaj is the team's top rebounder with 8.2 per game.
• Georgia Tech leads the ACC in defense, allowing 49.1 points per game. Tech also ranks first in three-point percentage defense (opponents shooting 26.8), rebounding defense (opponents averaging 31.7 rebounds per game) and turnover margin (+4.44).
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