The Virginia women's basketball team couldn't quite recover from a rough first half Friday night at No. 23 North Carolina.

The Tar Heels held off a late Cavalier rally to win 64-56, dropping Virginia to 16-8 overall and 4-6 in the ACC. North Carolina improved to 17-5 and 7-2.

Virginia trailed by 11 points at halftime, after shooting just 27 percent from the floor and enduring a six-minute scoreless stretch midway through the half. That deficit grew to 16 in the second half.

But the Cavaliers rallied to tie the game at 52 on a pair of Lexie Gerson free throws with four minutes to play, before UNC closed out the game on a 12-4 run.

Senior guard Ariana Moorer led the Cavaliers with 21 points and six steals in the loss. Gerson finished with 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds.