CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Reniya Kelly scored 20 points, Lexi Donarski added 15, including a driving layup with 27 seconds left and No. 12 North Carolina beat Virginia Tech 67-62 on Thursday night for their fourth win in a row.
Alyssa Ustby finished with 16 rebounds to go with four points for North Carolina (22-4, 10-3 ACC). In her fifth year, Ustby has 1,210 career rebounds and moved past Charlotte Smith (1,200 from 1992-95) into second in program history and sixth all time in the ACC.
Carys Baker made 7 of 9 from the field, 3 of 4 from behind the arc, and led Virginia Tech (16-9, 7-7) with 15 points. Matilda Ekh added 13 points, including three 3s, and Mackenzie Nelson scored 10 points.
Ekh hit a 3-pointer and Carleigh Wenzel made two free throws to give the Hokies a four-point lead — matching their biggest of the game — just over three minutes into the fourth quarter. Virginia Tech was 1-of-6 shooting with three turnovers the rest of the way as the Tar Heels scored 13 of the final 17 points.
Grace Townsend converted a three-point play and, after Nelson hit two foul shots on the other end, Kelly followed with a 3-pointer before Townsend made a layup to give UNC a two-point lead with three minutes remaining. Baker hit a jumper that tied it at 62-all with 2:51 to play but neither teams scored again until Lanie Grant made 1 of 2 from the free-throw line with 1:17 left and the Tar Heel led the rest of the way.
Virginia Tech plays host to Stanford next Thursday. North Carolina wraps up back-to-back home games on Sunday against in-state rival and 10th-ranked NC State.