In their ACC opener, the No. 25 Georgia Tech women’s basketball team dominated No. 14 North Carolina in an 82-76 victory Sunday in Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, N.C.
For the third time this season, five Yellow Jackets finished in double-figures with both Tonie Morgan and Dani Carnegie logging 20-plus points. The win pushed Tech to 11-0, its best start in program history.
Tech shook off a slow start when UNC (10-2, 0-1 ACC) opened with a 7-0 lead, but a three-point play from Morgan at the 5:22 mark of the first sparked a 20-5 Tech run to close the frame. Carnegie fueled the spurt with eight points to put Tech in front 26-17 at the end of the quarter.
Tech then shot 56.3% in the second period, hitting five of its nine field goals beyond the 3-point arc to extend its lead to 16 points. Kara Dunn led Tech with nine points in the second quarter, all from 3-point range, as three Jackets went into halftime in double-figures.
Carnegie hit back-to-back buckets late in the third to push Tech’s lead out to 64-42 before Kayla Blackshear gave the Jackets their largest lead of the game on a jumper with 55 seconds on the clock in the third quarter, making it 66-43. But North Carolina did not go lightly and staged a fourth quarter rally.
Tech called a timeout at 5:56 in the middle of a 13-2 UNC run as the Tar Heels closed the score to 68-58. The Jackets remained poised and a three-point play from Morgan returned a 73-60 lead to Tech with 4:47 on the clock. The Jackets went 6-for-6 at the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory and collect its second win over a ranked opponent this season.
UNC came into the contest leading the ACC in scoring defense, limiting its opponents to under 50 points on the season. Tech scored 50 in the first half alone and scored the most points against UNC this season. The Jackets also held UNC’s leading scorer Alyssa Ustby to two points.
Tech shot 51.7% from the field led by Morgan with 23 points. Carnegie tallied 22 points and nearly missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Meanwhile, Dunn added 13 points while Blackshear contributed 12 and Zoesha Smith finished with 10 points.
The win for the Jackets marked the program’s first in Chapel Hill since a 56-54 victory Feb. 12, 2012.
The Jackets are back in action at 2 p.m. Wednesday against Rice.
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