University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
12-7, 1-5ACC
Wake Forest
11-7, 2-3ACC
Wake Steals One From Carolina, 80-77
January 20, 2017 | Women's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL - Wake Forest scored the final five points of the game to escape with an 80-77 victory over North Carolina in ACC women's basketball action Thursday night.
North Carolina (12-7, 1-5 ACC) placed three players in double figures with Stephanie Watts scoring 25 points. Paris Kea had 21 points and Jamie Cherry had 12.
Elisa Penna had 23 points to lead Wake Forest (11-7, 2-3 ACC). Milan Quinn had 18 points and 16 rebounds and Ariel Stephenson added 17 off the bench.
A return to the friendly confines of Carmichael did the Tar Heels well in the opening minutes. Watts splashed a three in the corner that started a run of 10-straight points by the sophomore sharp shooter. The advantage grew to 18-6, and remained in favor of Carolina, 29-22, after shooting 58 percent from the field in the opening quarter.
Carolina also did well in converting Demon Deacons turnovers into transition buckets in the first half. The Tar Heels scored 17 points on eight Wake Forest miscues to increase its lead to 14 points, 38-24.
Wake Forest pieced together an 8-0 run just before intermission, cutting the UNC lead to 44-38 at halftime. Kea and Watts each scored 15 points at the break.
In the third quarter, Carolina never relinquished the lead, however, the Demon Deacons got within a single point on two occasions. Cherry fueled the Tar Heel attack in the third period with 10 points.
Penna finally got Wake Forest over the hump in the fourth quarter. Her three-pointer gave the Deacons a 63-62 edge with a little over seven minutes to go. Carolina showed some resielency after giving up the lead. An 8-2 spurt turned a 70-67 Wake lead into a 75-72 Carolina advantage after Watts made a critical three-pointer with 3:11 left.
Fuller later gave Carolina a 77-75 lead with a wide open layup off a nifty pass from Kea with under a minute to play. However, that wound up the final bucket for the Tar Heels as Alex Sharp made a triple with 15 seconds left to give the Demon Deacons an unlikely victory, its first in Chapel Hill since 1991.
Carolina hosts No. 6 Notre Dame on Sunday at 12 p.m., on ESPNU and ACC Network Extra/WatchESPN app.
