Tar Heels Host Virginia Tech Sunday At 6 – UNC Athletics

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina women’s basketball team is back at Carmichael Arena on Sunday, hosting Virginia Tech for a 6 p.m. tipoff. The No. 19 Tar Heels are 13-1 overall and 3-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, while the Hokies are 11-3 (3-0).

 

For tickets, click here or get them at the Carmichael box office. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

 

The Tar Heels are teaming with ServPro to honor First Responders on Sunday, with free tickets for them and up to three family members.  First Responders can pick up tickets at the Carmichael box office, which opens at 5 p.m.

 

After opening the season 13-0, UNC is coming off its first loss. The Tar Heels were one of the last three undefeated DI teams in the nation before falling on Thursday night at NC State.

 

Sophomore guard Deja Kelly leads UNC and is tied for third in the ACC in scoring with 17.5 points per game. She’s the only Tar Heel to have scored in double figures in every game this season and scored a career-high 31 points in Carolina’s most recent home game.

 

Sophomore forward Alyssa Ustby leads the team in rebounds with 9.2 per game, third in the conference and up significantly from her 5.7 average last season. She has seven double-doubles this season, including 12 points and 12 rebounds in the NC State game.

 

UNC vs. Virginia Tech

UNC and Virginia Tech are meeting for the 31st time in a series that dates back to the 1979-80 season. The Tar Heels lead the series 20-10 overall, but the Hokies have held an edge recently, winning six of the past eight.

• UNC won the most recent meeting, on Feb. 28, 2021, in Blacksburg, Va. It was the third of three regular-season matchups last year, a Covid oddity after both teams had  other games canceled.

• Virginia Tech won the first two meetings of the 2020-21 season, including the most recent game at Carmichael, 66-54 on Jan. 14, 2021. In that game, Elizabeth Kitley led four Hokies in double figures with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Then-freshman Deja Kelly was the Tar Heels’ leader with 15 points.

• UNC’s last home court win over Virginia Tech was in the 2015-16 season, 71-67 on Feb. 11, 2016. The Hokies have won three in a row in Chapel Hill since then.

 

Scouting the Hokies

Virginia Tech is 11-3 overall and has started ACC play 3-0 for the first time in program history.

• The Hokies are coming off a week-long break following a 66-53 win at Wake Forest on Jan. 2. Their matchup with Virginia scheduled for Jan. 6 was postponed.

• The teams have faced no common opponents thus far in the season.

• Junior center Elizabeth Kitley leads the team in scoring (18.9 ppg) and rebounding (10.4 rpg). Two others are scoring in double figures, with Aisha Sheppard averaging 14.1 ppg and Kayana Traylor 10.6 ppg.

• Virginia Tech leads the ACC in assist/turnover ratio (1.23) and three-pointers made (9.43 per game), and ranks second in the ACC in three-point percentage (.374).

 

National Leaders

Carolina leads the nation in scoring margin (+28.1) and ranks in the top 10 in seven other categories:

• 3rd in free throw attempts (319)

• 4th in field goal percentage defense (32.6)

• 5th in free throws made (219)

• 5th in won-lost percentage (92.9)

• 7th in rebounds per game (45.86)

• 7th in total rebounds (642)

• 7th in turnover margin (8.00)

 

Noting the Heels

• The Tar Heels are third in the NET rankings, 15th in the coaches’ poll and 19th in the AP poll. The last time UNC was ranked higher was the final polls of the 2014-15 season, in which the team was ninth by the coaches and 15th by the AP. 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.

• Carolina has already matched last season’s wins total. The Tar Heels finished 13-11 last season after making the program’s 28th NCAA Tournament appearance.

• UNC has played the same starting lineup in all 14 games this season: Kelly, Littlefield, Todd-Williams, Ustby and Poole. In comparison, through 14 games last season the Tar Heels had tried five different lineups, and they would use seven during the course of the season’s 24 games.

• UNC is one of two schools (Louisville is the other) that rank in the top 10 in the ACC in every statistical team category. The Tar Heels lead the league in rebounds, steals, scoring margin and turnover margin.

• The Carolina defense has forced all 14 opponents into double-digit turnovers and has forced 20+ seven times this season, including in four games in a row leading up to Thursday’s NC State game. In that one, the Wolfpack committed 17 turnovers, equal to the team’s second-highest total of the season.

• Carolina leads the ACC in steals (11.14 per game) and five Tar Heels rank among the ACC’s top 25 individually: Ustby (7th, 2.0), Kelly (13th, 1.8), Hodgson (T22nd, 1.4), Littlefield (T24th, 1.4) and Todd-Williamson (T24thd, 1.4).

• Deja Kelly leads the ACC with an .841 free throw percentage. She’s 58-69 on the year and 16-18 in ACC play.

• UNC hit season highs for three-point attempts in back-to-back games  with 25 against Syracuse then 26 against Clemson. The Tar Heels followed that with 21 at NC State. Prior to the Syracuse game, UNC had taken 20 or more long-range attempts just twice, with 21 vs Appalachian State and 20 vs UNC Asheville. The Tar Heels averaged 14.7 attempts per game in nonconference play and so far have averaged 22.25 in league play.

 

Up Next

Following Sunday’s game, the Tar Heels have a bye week before traveling to take on Notre Dame on Jan. 16. After that it’s back home to host Virginia on Jan. 20 before hitting the road for two more, at Georgia Tech and Duke.

UNC plays back-to-back home games on only one occasion through the rest of the season, on Feb. 6 vs. Pitt and Feb. 10 vs Miami.