ATLANTA – Metra Walthour hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 23.6 seconds remaining, Tyaunna Marshall scored 24 points and Georgia Tech beat No. 8 North Carolina 71-70 on Thursday night.
Jessica Breland, who missed a jumper at the buzzer, hit a pair of free throws to give the Tar Heels (15-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) a seven-point lead at the 1:40 mark, but North Carolina didn't score again.
Georgia Tech (13-4, 1-0) has won 10 straight. The Yellow Jackets scored eight points in the final minute on Marshall's 3-pointer, Deja Foster's basket and Walthour's 3.
Italee Lucas led North Carolina with 21 points and Breland finished with 15.
Alex Montgomery added 13 for Georgia Tech, which won its third straight at home over North Carolina but beat the Tar Heels for the just third time in the last 17 meetings.
After Frida Fogdemark's 3-pointer put Georgia Tech ahead 55-51 with 9:13 remaining, the Tar Heels went on a 17-6 run that ended on Breland's transition jumper.
North Carolina, which ranked in the top 10 in NCAA rebounding margin, was outworked 39-29 on the boards.
The Tar Heels called two timeouts in the final 3.7 before Breland's 14-footer missed the rim and the Yellow Jackets started celebrating.
North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell disputed a 5-second call that went against the Tar Heels' Tierra Ruffin-Pratt with 42.5 seconds left in the game.
After Foster scored, she stole an inbound pass in Georgia Tech's full-court press defense and fed Walthour for a 3 from the left corner.
Georgia Tech's 10-game winning streak is its longest under eighth-year coach MaChelle Joseph. The Yellow Jackets haven't lost since dropping three straight to Connecticut, Georgetown and Tennessee.
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