UNC women's basketball suffers overtime loss to No. 17 Virginia Tech

The UNC women's basketball program found a way to force overtime but couldn't prevail, as they suffered their third straight loss on Sunday afternoon.

North Carolina had its worst half of the season to kick this game off, shooting just 23% from the floor over the first 20 minutes of action. They went into the half trailing by six, as their offensive struggles were matched by similar struggles from the visiting Hokies.

When the second half began, Deja Kelly started to take over. The senior guard scored 9 points in the third quarter, as the Tar Heels outscored Virginia Tech 19-13 to tie the game up heading into the fourth quarter.

Alexandra Zelaya was called upon when Maria Gakdeng picked up her fourth foul in the third quarter, and responded by providing some big minutes for North Carolina. Her three near the end of the third quarter gave the Tar Heels a temporary lead, while her second three-pointer of the game knotted up the score once again in the fourth quarter.

In a back-and-forth affair, the two sides needed extra time to settle the score, as Virginia Tech took advantage over the overtime period. It wasn't an offensive showcase by either team, but the Hokies were able to do just enough to take home a victory.

Kelly led all scorers with 26 points, while Georgia Amoore led Virginia Tech with 21 points to go with 11 assists.If you're the UNC women's basketball program, you have to be pleased with how you made life difficult for Amoore and Elizabeth Kitley, who shot a combined 13-42 from the floor.

It's another game that you can look at and say the Tar Heels had every opportunity to win, as struggles shooting the basketball came back to haunt them. As a team, North Carolina connected on just 31.8% of their takes, including only knocking down five of 15 attempts from beyond-the-arc.

Riding the current losing streak, it's likely that the Tar Heels will fall out of the top 25 rankings this week. They won't take the court again until next Sunday, as they'll head down Tobacco Road to take on the rival Duke Blue Devils.