Tar Heels Host Georgia Tech for Senior Night
February 25, 2021 | Women's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina women's basketball team will host Georgia Tech at 6 p.m. Thursday for the final home game this season, and the final game at Carmichael Arena for three Tar Heels. Senior Janelle Bailey and graduate students Petra Holešínská and Stephanie Watts will be honored in Senior Night ceremonies following the game.
The game will air live on ACC Network Extra. Watch here, listen here and follow live stats here.
Holešínská is in her first season in Chapel Hill after four years at the University of Illinois. This season she has played in every game and is averaging 12.7 points per game, second on the team. She leads the team in three-pointers with 48 (2.4 per game, 10th in the ACC) and has scored 20 or more points four times this season.
For Bailey and Watts, the Tar Heel ties go much deeper. Both former ACC Freshman of the Year honorees, they are among the most decorated players in program history.
Bailey, a first-team All-ACC selection and three-time finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award as the nation's top center, leads UNC in scoring (13.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg) this season. In the program record book, she currently ranks fifth in career rebounding average (8.8 per game) and ninth in total rebounds (969). She's one of nine players in school history with more than 1,600 career points and 900 career rebounds. Among all active NCAA DI players, she current ranks fourth in career double doubles (41), sixth in career rebounds and 18th in career points (1,672), all the highest totals of any player in the ACC.
Watts, who spent four years at UNC and then one at Southern California before transferring back to Chapel Hill, is one of the top shooters in program history. She ranks second all-time in career three-pointers (264) and recently became the 24th player in school history to score more than 1,500 points as a Tar Heel. She holds the school record for three-pointers in a game with 10 in a win over Charleston Southern during her sophomore season (2016-17).
"Senior night is always very bittersweet," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. "You've gotten through an incredible, long journey. In Janelle's case a long journey at Carolina, maybe less long with me, but she's had so much growth. As we started our prep for the week I addressed all the seniors and for Janelle, I thanked her for her service to Carolina and for trusting me to push her beyond her comfortable limit. I think her growth is what I'll remember.
"For Watts, how rare that she came back. It shows a great trust in this coaching staff but also her love for this university, and that's what college athletics is all about, playing for the name across your jersey.
"And then Petra, she's my pandemic recruit, she didn't know me, had never seen Carolina except when they played her a year before she got here, so she had to do a FaceTime tour. I gave her endless gratitude for the trust that she put in me that this would be the best place to spend her fifth year.
"They've all been an integral part of our team and we're looking forward to honoring them."
The Rivalry
The Tar Heels and Yellow Jackets are meeting for the 80th time in a series that dates back to the 1979-80 season. UNC leads the overall series 59-20.
• The Tar Heels have won the last three in a row and eight of the past 11 against Georgia Tech.
• In the last meeting, UNC won 67-60 in overtime in Atlanta on Jan. 23, 2020. Janelle Bailey played all 45 minutes of that game and led the team with 20 points and 11 rebounds. She was a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line.
• The last time the teams met in Chapel Hill was Jan. 31, 2019, and UNC came away with a 91-90 win. Bailey scored 20 points and Watts had 18. As a team, the Tar Heels were 14-28 from three-point range, with Watts accounting for four of those treys.
• Georgia Tech's last win at Carmichael was on Feb. 12, 2012, when the Yellow Jackets beat the host Tar Heels 56-54
The game will air live on ACC Network Extra. Watch here, listen here and follow live stats here.
Holešínská is in her first season in Chapel Hill after four years at the University of Illinois. This season she has played in every game and is averaging 12.7 points per game, second on the team. She leads the team in three-pointers with 48 (2.4 per game, 10th in the ACC) and has scored 20 or more points four times this season.
For Bailey and Watts, the Tar Heel ties go much deeper. Both former ACC Freshman of the Year honorees, they are among the most decorated players in program history.
Bailey, a first-team All-ACC selection and three-time finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award as the nation's top center, leads UNC in scoring (13.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg) this season. In the program record book, she currently ranks fifth in career rebounding average (8.8 per game) and ninth in total rebounds (969). She's one of nine players in school history with more than 1,600 career points and 900 career rebounds. Among all active NCAA DI players, she current ranks fourth in career double doubles (41), sixth in career rebounds and 18th in career points (1,672), all the highest totals of any player in the ACC.
Watts, who spent four years at UNC and then one at Southern California before transferring back to Chapel Hill, is one of the top shooters in program history. She ranks second all-time in career three-pointers (264) and recently became the 24th player in school history to score more than 1,500 points as a Tar Heel. She holds the school record for three-pointers in a game with 10 in a win over Charleston Southern during her sophomore season (2016-17).
"Senior night is always very bittersweet," UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. "You've gotten through an incredible, long journey. In Janelle's case a long journey at Carolina, maybe less long with me, but she's had so much growth. As we started our prep for the week I addressed all the seniors and for Janelle, I thanked her for her service to Carolina and for trusting me to push her beyond her comfortable limit. I think her growth is what I'll remember.
"For Watts, how rare that she came back. It shows a great trust in this coaching staff but also her love for this university, and that's what college athletics is all about, playing for the name across your jersey.
"And then Petra, she's my pandemic recruit, she didn't know me, had never seen Carolina except when they played her a year before she got here, so she had to do a FaceTime tour. I gave her endless gratitude for the trust that she put in me that this would be the best place to spend her fifth year.
"They've all been an integral part of our team and we're looking forward to honoring them."
The Rivalry
The Tar Heels and Yellow Jackets are meeting for the 80th time in a series that dates back to the 1979-80 season. UNC leads the overall series 59-20.
• The Tar Heels have won the last three in a row and eight of the past 11 against Georgia Tech.
• In the last meeting, UNC won 67-60 in overtime in Atlanta on Jan. 23, 2020. Janelle Bailey played all 45 minutes of that game and led the team with 20 points and 11 rebounds. She was a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line.
• The last time the teams met in Chapel Hill was Jan. 31, 2019, and UNC came away with a 91-90 win. Bailey scored 20 points and Watts had 18. As a team, the Tar Heels were 14-28 from three-point range, with Watts accounting for four of those treys.
• Georgia Tech's last win at Carmichael was on Feb. 12, 2012, when the Yellow Jackets beat the host Tar Heels 56-54
Players Mentioned
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