No. 12 UVa Falls At No. 2 UNC, 103-74

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. The 12th-ranked Virginia women’s basketball team fell at No. 2 North Carolina Friday night, 103-74. Monica Wright led the Cavaliers with 24 points, while Lyndra Littles added 21 points and Aisha Mohammed posted a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds).

Rashanda McCants had 23 points to lead North Carolina (17-0, 3-0 ACC), while Chay Shegog added 17 points for the Tar Heels, who got off to a slow start before taking control late in the first half. North Carolina used a 17-6 run spanning halftime and scored on its first four possessions after the break to take a double-digit lead, then coasted from there.

The Cavaliers (14-3, 1-1) hit 11 of 19 shots to open the game and trailed 33-31 on Littles’ 3 with 4:46 left in the first half, but they managed just one field goal the rest of the period while the Tar Heels pushed out in front and led 43-34 on She’la White’s jumper just before the halftime horn.

North Carolina came out of the half with another burst, getting a layup from a cutting McCants off a feed from Christina DeWitt followed by a transition layup from DeGraffenreid to take a 50-37 lead with 18:31 to play.

From there, the lead only grew. At one point, things were going so well for the Tar Heels that Lucas took a pass in transition, paused long enough to step back behind the arc and bury a 3 that gave North Carolina a 91-59 lead with 5 1/2 minutes left.

It was the most points ever scored by the Tar Heels against the Cavaliers and marked their 13th straight win in the series.

ACC play continues when Virginia heads to in-state rival Virginia Tech on Wednesday, Jan. 21, for a 7 p.m. game.