“When we had that timeout at the end,” head coach Sylvia Hatchell said, “Jamie comes to me and she says, ‘I want the ball.’”
Coming out of the timeout, the junior guard received the inbounds pass at half court, dribbled twice and took her shot more than 30 feet from the basket.
Nothing but net.
When the Yellow Jackets’ answer fell short, UNC (14-12, 3-10 ACC) escaped with a thrilling 89-88 victory that brought the Carmichael Arena crowd to its feet.
For a team defined by its youth, Cherry — the only healthy upperclassman — stepped up time and time again for the Tar Heels on Thursday.
UNC trailed Georgia Tech (14-12, 3-10 ACC) by 14 with under a minute remaining in the first quarter before Cherry drilled 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, cutting the deficit to 8 points and giving the Tar Heels hope.
On the other side of the break, Cherry stayed hot — hitting another three to draw UNC within five, its closest deficit since the game’s opening minutes.
“She’s just all over the place,” sophomore guard Stephanie Watts said. “She’s a really vocal leader, she leads by example, leads by talking to us — keeping us in the game. She’s really helpful and inspirational to us.”