No. 18 North Carolina women cruise past Virginia 68-57

Posted February 24, 2022 6:00 am

The Associated Press

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Deja Kelly scored 16 points, Alyssa Ustby added 15, and No. 18 North Carolina cruised to a 68-57 victory over Virginia on Thursday night.

North Carolina (22-5, 12-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) has won five straight and 25 of the last 28 in the series.

Carlie Littlefield had eight points and Kelly added six as North Carolina jumped out to a 30-11 lead in the first quarter and 47-30 at the break. The Tar Heels shot 61% (20 of 33) in the first half and then stretched the advantage to 21 points early in the third.

Littlefield finished with 13 points and Kennedy Todd-Williams had 11 for North Carolina. Anya Poole grabbed 10 rebounds to go with eight points.

Kelly and Todd-Williams each had three of North Carolina's 12 steals. The Tar Heels scored 20 points from 23 Virginia turnovers, and are 11-0 when getting double-digit steals.

Amandine Toi made a pair of 3-pointers and scored 14 points to lead Virginia (5-21, 2-16). London Clarkson had 10 of her 12 points in the first half. Taylor Valladay added 11 points.

Toi's 3-pointer and back-to-back layups from Mir McLean during a 7-0 surge pulled the Cavs to 60-51 with 6:10 remaining, but the Tar Heels then held a double-digit lead for nearly the rest of the way.

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More AP women's college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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