TAR HEELS ERASE A 14-POINT DEFICIT TO END THE HOKIES' WIN STREAK

Jay Winters

March 1, 2021

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Beating a team twice in a season is hard enough, but make that three times, and it becomes a very tall task.

For the first time in the regular season, Virginia Tech played North Carolina for a third time, and if not for a couple of hiccups in the third and fourth quarters, could have walked away with a victory.

UNC, listed as one of the “Last Four In” in ESPN’s latest bracketology, took advantage of a stellar second half of defense and left Blacksburg with a 68-63 victory.

“First and foremost, I want to give a lot of credit to North Carolina,” head coach Kenny Brooks said. “I thought they outplayed us for three out of the four quarters. They executed better, they had more energy than we did, and we didn’t get production from areas we needed it from.”

It was evident from the tip that there was a sense of urgency in the Heels, attacking the basket on almost every possession in the first quarter with no hesitation.

That sense disappeared, however, for that “one quarter” that the Hokies outplayed UNC. In maybe Tech’s best quarter all season, the Hokies scored 27 points to just 12 from the Heels and received contributions from everyone on the floor.

Aisha Sheppard, on her senior night, looked like she would go out with a bang, hitting double-digits in the first quarter and reaching 14 before halftime, and if not for an ankle-tweak in the third, may have propelled the Hokies to victory.

Tech pushed the lead to as much as 14, but as soon as UNC came out of the locker room to start the second half, things started to go south immediately.

Energy dropped, the Heels got stops, and “Uncle Mo’,” as he so often does, took a turn the other way.

The Heels threw a mix of zone and man-to-man defense at the Hokies while playing physical down low, limiting Elizabeth Kitley to a season-low eight points, along with seven rebounds and five turnovers.

“They started clogging up the lanes, and made it really hard for us to get it into Liz [Kitley],” Georgia Amoore said. “They made it hard for Liz to be effective, and when that happens, we're going to be in a bit of a strife.”

Amoore and Azana Baines tried to pick up the slack for the Hokies, with Amoore finishing with 22 while BaInes posted her first double-double as a Hokie with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Outside of that duo, Sheppard was held scoreless in the second half, Kitley only scored four and Cayla King was held to zero.

Even with the offensive struggle, the game was never out of reach for Tech.The Hokies tied it 60-60 with around four to play, but shades of the late December and early January games came back to haunt them.

“I think we just went to the old ways,” Amoore said. “Early in the season, we would have those leads and succumb to pressure and not be able to finish offensively or defensively, and I think we just looked like the old us.”

UNC scored the next six, keeping the game out of reach, finishing with a 68-63 score.

“We’re gonna have to put this behind us,” Brooks said. “We’re gonna have to go into the tournament and try to right the ship, and we’ve come so far we don't want to go in with a bad taste, so we're gonna have to shore up some things and get better.”

UNC, like the Hokies, had a streaky February and have now won five of its last six, with the only loss coming to No. 2 NC State on February 7, and sit right behind Tech in the standings.

The Hokies finish the regular season 13-9 and 8-8 in conference play and will play in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Thursday as the No. 7 seed against Miami at 6 p.m.