Sunday, January 1
Blacksburg, Va.
4 PM
North Carolina
at
Virginia Tech
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
No. 13 WBB Opens 2023 Vs. No. 7 Hokies
January 1, 2023 | Women's Basketball
BLACKSBURG, Va. – The North Carolina women's basketball team opens 2023 Sunday with a New Year's Day game at No. 7 Virginia Tech. The 4 p.m. tipoff is UNC's fifth game this season against a ranked team.
No. 13 Carolina comes into the game at 9-3 overall and 0-1 in ACC play after a loss to FSU on Thursday. The Hokies are 11-2 overall and 1-2 in conference play coming off a loss at Clemson on Thursday.
The game is the first of two in a row on the road for Carolina, which travels to Miami on Thursday.
Noting the Tar Heels
• Sunday's game in Blacksburg is the Tar Heels' first trip outside the state since the Dec. 1 ACC/Big Ten Challenge game at Indiana.
• UNC and Virginia Tech are meeting for the 34th time.
• North Carolina faced four ranked teams in non-conference play, going 2-2. Sunday's game is UNC's fifth of the season against a ranked team and third against a team ranked seventh or higher.
• Four Tar Heels are scoring between 15.8 and 13.1 points per game and all rank in the ACC's top 16 in scoring: Deja Kelly is sixth (15.8 ppg), Alyssa Ustby and Kennedy Todd-Williams are tied for 11th (14.2 ppg) and Eva Hodgson is 16th (13.1 ppg). No other ACC team has more than two players in the top 16.
Heels vs. Hokies
The Tar Heels and Hokies will meet Sunday for the first time this season and the 34th time overall in a series that dates back to the 1979-80 season. UNC leads the series 21-12, but Virginia Tech has won the last two.
• The teams split last year's regular-season meetings with each winning on its home court.
The Tar Heels won 71-46 on Jan. 9 in Chapel Hill. UNC was coming off its first loss of the season, at NC State the previous Thursday. Four Tar Heels scored in double figures, led by Eva Hodgson, who came off the bench for a season-high 19 points, including 4-for-5 three-point shooting. Deja Kelly registered her first career double-double with 15 points and a team-best 10 rebounds.
• Virginia Tech won the battle in Blacksburg, 66-61 on Feb. 13. The Tar Heels led by as many as 13 points in the first half after hitting five of their first eight shots and using a 9-0 run out of the first media timeout to lead 21-9 after the first quarter. VT roared back with a 22-7 advantage in the second quarter to take a three-point lead at halftime. The Tar Heels led briefly in the third, but the Hokies controlled the game down the stretch to take the win. Three Tar Heels scored in double figures, led by Deja Kelly with 17.
• The teams also met in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, with Virginia Tech winning 87-80 in overtime. Eva Hodgson hit a three at the buzzer of regulation to send the game into OT tied at 69-69, but the Hokies pulled ahead in extra time to advance. It was Carolina's only overtime game of the season.
Coming up
UNC flies to Miami on Wednesday for a second-consecutive ACC road game, facing the Hurricanes on Jan. 5. The Tar Heels' next game at Carmichael is on Jan. 8 against Notre Dame.
Tar Heel Trends
• In a nod to Carolina's versatility, four different players have scored 20 or more points on 10 occasions in the season's first 12 games. (Kennedy Todd-Williams with 20 vs. Jackson State, at Indiana, and vs. Wofford, Destiny Adams with 23 vs South Carolina State, Deja Kelly with 24 vs James Madison, 29 vs Iowa State, 20 vs USC Upstate, and 20 vs. FSU; and Eva Hodgson with 21 vs. Oregon and 20 vs Wofford.) A fifth Tar Heel, Alyssa Ustby, has reached 19 on two occasions.
• No conference school has more players with multiple 20-point games than UNC. Carolina and Virginia Tech each have three players with two or more 20-point outings, the most in the league.
• Five Tar Heels have either led the team in scoring or tied for the lead in at least one game this season.
• Carolina has four players ranked among the ACC's top 16 in scoring average (Kelly 6th, Ustby and Todd-Williams T11th, Hodgson 16th). No other school has more than two players in the top 16.
• Alyssa Ustby ranks in the ACC's top 25 in scoring (T11), rebounding (4), assists (25), steals (23) and blocks (12). She's the only player in the top 25 in all five of those categories.
• Eva Hodgson has hit at least one three in every game this season and is the UNC player to have done so. She ranks second in the ACC in three-point percentage (.477) and fourth in threes made (2.58 per game).
• UNC's 10 blocks against Iowa State were the most for a Tar Heel team since the 2017-18 season. Redshirt freshman Teonni Key had three in just 14 minutes of play. Carolina is averaging 4.92 per game, fifth in the ACC and 28th nationally.
• Two Tar Heels rank among the ACC's top three in assist-turnover ratio. Eva Hodgson is second (2.56) and Deja Kelly is third (2.50). UNC's team assist-turnover ratio of 1.22 is second in the ACC (to Virginia Tech) and 28th in the nation.
• Destiny Adams is eighth ACC in blocks with 1.33 per game in an average of 18.3 minutes per game on the court.
• Alyssa Ustby has hit double figures in rebounds in each of the past five games, averaging 11.4 boards per game over that span. For the season she's at a team-best 9.58 per game, fourth in the ACC.
• Eva Hodgson ranks fourth among all active DI players in career free throw percentage, hitting 88.2 of her foul shots in her fourth season of collegiate play. She's 12th in career three-point percentage at 41.4.
• With 11 free throws in the game against Michigan, Deja Kelly passed 250 makes for her career, which is the minimum for inclusion on the NCAA's career leaders list. With a career free throw percentage of 80.9, she ranks 48th among all DI players.
No. 13 Carolina comes into the game at 9-3 overall and 0-1 in ACC play after a loss to FSU on Thursday. The Hokies are 11-2 overall and 1-2 in conference play coming off a loss at Clemson on Thursday.
The game is the first of two in a row on the road for Carolina, which travels to Miami on Thursday.
Noting the Tar Heels
• Sunday's game in Blacksburg is the Tar Heels' first trip outside the state since the Dec. 1 ACC/Big Ten Challenge game at Indiana.
• UNC and Virginia Tech are meeting for the 34th time.
• North Carolina faced four ranked teams in non-conference play, going 2-2. Sunday's game is UNC's fifth of the season against a ranked team and third against a team ranked seventh or higher.
• Four Tar Heels are scoring between 15.8 and 13.1 points per game and all rank in the ACC's top 16 in scoring: Deja Kelly is sixth (15.8 ppg), Alyssa Ustby and Kennedy Todd-Williams are tied for 11th (14.2 ppg) and Eva Hodgson is 16th (13.1 ppg). No other ACC team has more than two players in the top 16.
Heels vs. Hokies
The Tar Heels and Hokies will meet Sunday for the first time this season and the 34th time overall in a series that dates back to the 1979-80 season. UNC leads the series 21-12, but Virginia Tech has won the last two.
• The teams split last year's regular-season meetings with each winning on its home court.
The Tar Heels won 71-46 on Jan. 9 in Chapel Hill. UNC was coming off its first loss of the season, at NC State the previous Thursday. Four Tar Heels scored in double figures, led by Eva Hodgson, who came off the bench for a season-high 19 points, including 4-for-5 three-point shooting. Deja Kelly registered her first career double-double with 15 points and a team-best 10 rebounds.
• Virginia Tech won the battle in Blacksburg, 66-61 on Feb. 13. The Tar Heels led by as many as 13 points in the first half after hitting five of their first eight shots and using a 9-0 run out of the first media timeout to lead 21-9 after the first quarter. VT roared back with a 22-7 advantage in the second quarter to take a three-point lead at halftime. The Tar Heels led briefly in the third, but the Hokies controlled the game down the stretch to take the win. Three Tar Heels scored in double figures, led by Deja Kelly with 17.
• The teams also met in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, with Virginia Tech winning 87-80 in overtime. Eva Hodgson hit a three at the buzzer of regulation to send the game into OT tied at 69-69, but the Hokies pulled ahead in extra time to advance. It was Carolina's only overtime game of the season.
Coming up
UNC flies to Miami on Wednesday for a second-consecutive ACC road game, facing the Hurricanes on Jan. 5. The Tar Heels' next game at Carmichael is on Jan. 8 against Notre Dame.
Tar Heel Trends
• In a nod to Carolina's versatility, four different players have scored 20 or more points on 10 occasions in the season's first 12 games. (Kennedy Todd-Williams with 20 vs. Jackson State, at Indiana, and vs. Wofford, Destiny Adams with 23 vs South Carolina State, Deja Kelly with 24 vs James Madison, 29 vs Iowa State, 20 vs USC Upstate, and 20 vs. FSU; and Eva Hodgson with 21 vs. Oregon and 20 vs Wofford.) A fifth Tar Heel, Alyssa Ustby, has reached 19 on two occasions.
• No conference school has more players with multiple 20-point games than UNC. Carolina and Virginia Tech each have three players with two or more 20-point outings, the most in the league.
• Five Tar Heels have either led the team in scoring or tied for the lead in at least one game this season.
• Carolina has four players ranked among the ACC's top 16 in scoring average (Kelly 6th, Ustby and Todd-Williams T11th, Hodgson 16th). No other school has more than two players in the top 16.
• Alyssa Ustby ranks in the ACC's top 25 in scoring (T11), rebounding (4), assists (25), steals (23) and blocks (12). She's the only player in the top 25 in all five of those categories.
• Eva Hodgson has hit at least one three in every game this season and is the UNC player to have done so. She ranks second in the ACC in three-point percentage (.477) and fourth in threes made (2.58 per game).
• UNC's 10 blocks against Iowa State were the most for a Tar Heel team since the 2017-18 season. Redshirt freshman Teonni Key had three in just 14 minutes of play. Carolina is averaging 4.92 per game, fifth in the ACC and 28th nationally.
• Two Tar Heels rank among the ACC's top three in assist-turnover ratio. Eva Hodgson is second (2.56) and Deja Kelly is third (2.50). UNC's team assist-turnover ratio of 1.22 is second in the ACC (to Virginia Tech) and 28th in the nation.
• Destiny Adams is eighth ACC in blocks with 1.33 per game in an average of 18.3 minutes per game on the court.
• Alyssa Ustby has hit double figures in rebounds in each of the past five games, averaging 11.4 boards per game over that span. For the season she's at a team-best 9.58 per game, fourth in the ACC.
• Eva Hodgson ranks fourth among all active DI players in career free throw percentage, hitting 88.2 of her foul shots in her fourth season of collegiate play. She's 12th in career three-point percentage at 41.4.
• With 11 free throws in the game against Michigan, Deja Kelly passed 250 makes for her career, which is the minimum for inclusion on the NCAA's career leaders list. With a career free throw percentage of 80.9, she ranks 48th among all DI players.
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