University of North Carolina Athletics
Thursday, February 24
Charlottesville, Va.
7 PM
North Carolina
at
Virginia
Photo by: Jerome M. Ibrahim
No. 18 Tar Heels Set For Thursday Night Game At UVA
February 24, 2022 | Women's Basketball
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 18 UNC women's basketball team plays its final road game of the regular season on Thursday, taking on Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena. Tip-off is 7 p.m. and the game will air on ACC Network Extra.
Carolina comes into the game at 21-5 overall and 11-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, with one of those wins coming against the Cavaliers, 61-52 in Chapel Hill on Jan. 20. Thursday's game is the second of back-to-back road games for UNC. The Tar Heels won at FSU on Sunday.
Virginia is 5-20 overall and 2-13 in ACC play, with wins in its last two games. Thursday's game is UVa's last of the regular season – the Cavaliers, who have a bye in ACC play on Sunday, will celebrate Senior Day before the game.
Sophomore guard Deja Kelly leads UNC and is fourth in the ACC in scoring with 16.3 points per game, up from 11.0 per game last season. She has six games of 20+ points this season and is one of four Tar Heels averaging 9.8 ppg or more.
Noting the Tar Heels
• The Tar Heels have won seven road games this year, the most since the 2013-14 season, when they also won seven true road games. The last time UNC won more was the previous season, when the Tar Heels totaled eight.
• The Tar Heels are fifth in the NET rankings and 18th in both national polls. Carolina appeared in both preseason polls in 2015-16 (20th coaches, 22nd AP) but fell out as the season started and didn't show up again until this December. UNC has been in the top five in the NET all but one day (fell to sixth) this season and took a jump in both polls – six spots in AP, five spots on the coaches' poll – after last week's wins.
• Deja Kelly is the reigning ACC Player of the Week. A two-time ACC Freshman of the Week last season, she averaged 22 points in the wins over Louisville and FSU to win her first career Player of the Week honor.
• All five of UNC's losses this season have come to teams currently ranked in the AP poll, and four of those have been on the road.
• UNC has played the same starting lineup in all 26 games this season, with Deja Kelly, Carlie Littlefield, Kennedy Todd-Williams, Alyssa Ustby and Anya Poole in for the opening jump. In comparison, the Tar Heels tried seven different lineups during the course of last season's 24 games.
• Sunday's game was the 50th game in a Tar Heel uniform for Deja Kelly, Kennedy Todd-Williams and Alyssa Ustby, and also was coach Courtney Banghart's 50th win at UNC.
• Before the Louisville game, UNC hadn't come back to win this season after trailing at the end of the first quarter. (They'd been trailing after the first 10 on two occasions, both of which ended in losses.) Now the Tar Heels have overcome an early deficit two games in a row – they were down 20-16 to Louisville after the first and then down 14-13 at FSU.
• UNC ranks in the top three in the ACC in scoring (3), scoring defense (2), scoring margin (2), rebounds per game (2), offensive rebounds (2), defensive rebounds (2), field goal percentage defense (1), three-point percentage defense (1), rebounding margin (2) and turnover margin (1).
UNC vs. UVA
• UNC and Virginia are meeting for the 90th time in a series that dates back to the 1975-76 season. The Tar Heels lead the series 55-34 after winning the last four in a row and 24 of the last 27.
• Carolina won the season's first meeting, 61-52 on Jan. 20 in Chapel Hill. Deja Kelly led UNC with 18 points and Kennedy Todd-Williams scored 15. It's one of just eight games this season in which two or fewer UNC players have reached double figures.
• The teams didn't meet at all last season, as Virginia ended play in December. The previous season, in 2019-20, UNC won twice: On Jan. 2, 2020, the Tar Heels won 65-47 in Charlottesville in what was Carolina coach Courtney Banghart's first ACC road victory. On Jan. 30, 2020, UNC won 78-68 in Chapel Hill.
Up Next
UNC closes out the regular season at home Sunday vs. Duke. The Tar Heels will celebrate graduate students Carlie Littlefield and Jaelynn Murray in Senior Day ceremonies after the game. After that, Carolina looks ahead to the ACC Tournament next week in Greensboro, N.C.
Trending
• UNC has held 12 of this sason's opponents under 50 points. In their most recent game, a win at FSU Sunday, the Tar Heels gave up 49. Opponents are averaging 54.4 points, second-lowest in the ACC.
• Carolina has won the rebounding battle six games in a row, the longest stretch in ACC play since the 2013-14 season.
• Sophomore Alyssa Ustby notched a points-rebounds double-double in four straight games and then had nine and nine against Louisville before turning in another double-double with 12 points and 10 boards at FSU. Before this streak, she'd never had double-doubles in back-to-back games. She has 12 this season, which ranks second in the ACC.
• Although free throw shooting hasn't been a team strength this season – the Tar Heels had a .683 team shooting percentage heading into the Miami game – the past five games have been a different story. UNC was 20 of 21 (95.2 percent) against the Hurricanes, 20-26 (76.9) vs. Pitt (76.9), 12-13 (92.3) at Virginia Tech, 15-20 (75.0) against Louisville and 8-9 (88.9) at FSU. That puts Carolina at 75-89 (84.3) over the past five games and now at 71.5 percent for the season.
• Deja Kelly is 27-29 from the line over the past six games. For the season she's shooting .863, best in the ACC.
Carolina comes into the game at 21-5 overall and 11-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, with one of those wins coming against the Cavaliers, 61-52 in Chapel Hill on Jan. 20. Thursday's game is the second of back-to-back road games for UNC. The Tar Heels won at FSU on Sunday.
Virginia is 5-20 overall and 2-13 in ACC play, with wins in its last two games. Thursday's game is UVa's last of the regular season – the Cavaliers, who have a bye in ACC play on Sunday, will celebrate Senior Day before the game.
Sophomore guard Deja Kelly leads UNC and is fourth in the ACC in scoring with 16.3 points per game, up from 11.0 per game last season. She has six games of 20+ points this season and is one of four Tar Heels averaging 9.8 ppg or more.
Noting the Tar Heels
• The Tar Heels have won seven road games this year, the most since the 2013-14 season, when they also won seven true road games. The last time UNC won more was the previous season, when the Tar Heels totaled eight.
• The Tar Heels are fifth in the NET rankings and 18th in both national polls. Carolina appeared in both preseason polls in 2015-16 (20th coaches, 22nd AP) but fell out as the season started and didn't show up again until this December. UNC has been in the top five in the NET all but one day (fell to sixth) this season and took a jump in both polls – six spots in AP, five spots on the coaches' poll – after last week's wins.
• Deja Kelly is the reigning ACC Player of the Week. A two-time ACC Freshman of the Week last season, she averaged 22 points in the wins over Louisville and FSU to win her first career Player of the Week honor.
• All five of UNC's losses this season have come to teams currently ranked in the AP poll, and four of those have been on the road.
• UNC has played the same starting lineup in all 26 games this season, with Deja Kelly, Carlie Littlefield, Kennedy Todd-Williams, Alyssa Ustby and Anya Poole in for the opening jump. In comparison, the Tar Heels tried seven different lineups during the course of last season's 24 games.
• Sunday's game was the 50th game in a Tar Heel uniform for Deja Kelly, Kennedy Todd-Williams and Alyssa Ustby, and also was coach Courtney Banghart's 50th win at UNC.
• Before the Louisville game, UNC hadn't come back to win this season after trailing at the end of the first quarter. (They'd been trailing after the first 10 on two occasions, both of which ended in losses.) Now the Tar Heels have overcome an early deficit two games in a row – they were down 20-16 to Louisville after the first and then down 14-13 at FSU.
• UNC ranks in the top three in the ACC in scoring (3), scoring defense (2), scoring margin (2), rebounds per game (2), offensive rebounds (2), defensive rebounds (2), field goal percentage defense (1), three-point percentage defense (1), rebounding margin (2) and turnover margin (1).
UNC vs. UVA
• UNC and Virginia are meeting for the 90th time in a series that dates back to the 1975-76 season. The Tar Heels lead the series 55-34 after winning the last four in a row and 24 of the last 27.
• Carolina won the season's first meeting, 61-52 on Jan. 20 in Chapel Hill. Deja Kelly led UNC with 18 points and Kennedy Todd-Williams scored 15. It's one of just eight games this season in which two or fewer UNC players have reached double figures.
• The teams didn't meet at all last season, as Virginia ended play in December. The previous season, in 2019-20, UNC won twice: On Jan. 2, 2020, the Tar Heels won 65-47 in Charlottesville in what was Carolina coach Courtney Banghart's first ACC road victory. On Jan. 30, 2020, UNC won 78-68 in Chapel Hill.
Up Next
UNC closes out the regular season at home Sunday vs. Duke. The Tar Heels will celebrate graduate students Carlie Littlefield and Jaelynn Murray in Senior Day ceremonies after the game. After that, Carolina looks ahead to the ACC Tournament next week in Greensboro, N.C.
Trending
• UNC has held 12 of this sason's opponents under 50 points. In their most recent game, a win at FSU Sunday, the Tar Heels gave up 49. Opponents are averaging 54.4 points, second-lowest in the ACC.
• Carolina has won the rebounding battle six games in a row, the longest stretch in ACC play since the 2013-14 season.
• Sophomore Alyssa Ustby notched a points-rebounds double-double in four straight games and then had nine and nine against Louisville before turning in another double-double with 12 points and 10 boards at FSU. Before this streak, she'd never had double-doubles in back-to-back games. She has 12 this season, which ranks second in the ACC.
• Although free throw shooting hasn't been a team strength this season – the Tar Heels had a .683 team shooting percentage heading into the Miami game – the past five games have been a different story. UNC was 20 of 21 (95.2 percent) against the Hurricanes, 20-26 (76.9) vs. Pitt (76.9), 12-13 (92.3) at Virginia Tech, 15-20 (75.0) against Louisville and 8-9 (88.9) at FSU. That puts Carolina at 75-89 (84.3) over the past five games and now at 71.5 percent for the season.
• Deja Kelly is 27-29 from the line over the past six games. For the season she's shooting .863, best in the ACC.
Players Mentioned
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