CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Led by Niesha Butler and Milli Martinez, the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team ran away from the North Carolina Tar Heels, 82-75, tonight at Carmichael Auditorium.
Butler scored a season-high 25 points and Martinez posted a 21-point, 10-rebound, seven-assist performance to lead the Yellow Jackets to their sixth consecutive win and their first in Chapel Hill since 1991.
“We haven’t won here since 1991,” Georgia Tech head coach Agnus Berenato said. “I remember that win. It was big. This is bigger. Coming in, I really thought we could win this game. The team played with a lot of confidence.”
Georgia Tech led by just one point at halftime, but opened up a 17-point margin four times in the second half. The Tar Heels outscored the Yellow Jackets 17-7 in the final three minutes, but it was too little, too late for UNC as Tech held on to the victory.
Martinez, who recorded her fourth double-double of the season and tied her career high in assists, tallied 14 points, five assists and seven rebounds after intermission. Butler added 14 of her points in the second period as Tech opened up the game.
Sonja Mallory scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half as she scored in double figures for the fifth time in six games as a starter. She also blocked two shots for the fifth consecutive game.
Jaime Kruppa grabbed 10 rebounds in the game and added six points, all in the second half.
Coretta Brown led UNC with 17 points and eight assists, and Juana Brown added 15 points. LaQuanda Barksdale, who entered the game as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s leading scorer with 20.4 points per game, scored just nine points before fouling out with 8:49 remaining.
The Yellow Jackets extended their longest winning streak since 1996-97 to six games, improving to 9-3 and 1-1 in the conference. UNC fell to 7-4 and 1-1.
Tech returns home to host Florida State on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in a game televised by FOX Sports South.
