WBB Falls To No. 9 Virginia Tech On Last-Second Shot

Thursday, February 23

Chapel Hill

8 PM

North Carolina

19-9,10-7ACC

Virginia Tech

23-4,13-4ACC

Virginia Tech

North Carolina

Deja Kelly led UNC with 18 points and six assists against the Hokies.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

February 23, 2023 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Virginia Tech's Elizabeth Kitley hit the go-ahead jumper at the buzzer to lift the No. 9 Hokies to a 61-59 lead over the No. 22 UNC women's basketball team Thursday night at Carmichael Arena. The Tar Heels led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter and held the advantage for nearly three quarters of the game but couldn't pull out a sixth win of the season over a top-25 team.

UNC is now 19-9 overall and 10-7 in ACC play heading into the regular-season finale on Sunday at Duke.

Junior Deja Kelly led Carolina with 18 points and six rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. Her final points, on a jumper that rolled around the rim then fell in, put UNC up 58-57 with 12.2 seconds to play. But Virginia Tech's Cayla King hit two free throws with 9.1 second remaining to again give the Hokies the lead. UNC's Alyssa Ustby made a free throw to tie the game with two seconds remaining, but Kitley broke the tie to give Virginia Tech (23-4, 13-4) the win.

Kitley finished with 21 points and became the program's all-time leading scorer during the game. Kayana Traylor scored 20 and Georgia Amoore added 10.

The Tar Heels got back two players who had been sidelined in Ustby (five games out) and senior Eva Hodgson (eight games), and both were in the starting lineup. The Tar Heels rolled out to a 14-4 lead with 2:02 to play in the first period after a steal and jumper from Kennedy Todd-Williams, who finished with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Virginia Tech closed the gap to seven by the break and then shot 53.3 percent in the second quarter (after 22.2 in the first) to close the gap and briefly take a one-point lead, but Carolina was up 32-28 at halftime.

UNC opened a six-point advantage (36-30) in the first two minutes of the third period, but that was the most breathing room either team had for the rest of the game. The Hokies stretched their lead to four on two free throws by Kitley with 1:41 to play in the third. UNC was back ahead by three, 45-42, at the end of the period after a steal and lay-up by Kayla McPherson, who finished with seven points and a career-best three steals.

The Hokies led by four with 2:19 to play before a three by McPherson then back-to-back jumpers by Kelly gave the Tar Heels that one-point lead with 12 seconds remaining.

Virginia Tech won the rebounding battle 41-28 and shot 45.3 percent for the game, the best by an ACC opponent this season. The Hokies hit 60 percent of their shots (12-20) after halftime.

After the game, UNC celebrated its three seniors, presenting them with framed jerseys at midcourt. Eva Hodgson, Malu Tshitenge and Ariel Young took the court with family members to applause from the crowd. The program also honored two graduating managers, Noah Mitchell and Nicholas Mullis, and graduate assistant Rob Jenkins.