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Columbia, Carolina del Sur
North Carolina had one major game plan in the opening round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament against No. 9 seed Michigan State: The Tar Heels knew they had to slow the Spartans’ offensive, among the highest scoring units in the country.
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Mission accomplished.
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Maria Gakdeng and Aylssa Ustby each recorded double-doubles and No. 8 seeded North Carolina advanced with a 59-56 victory after surviving a late scare from Michigan State on Friday afternoon. Gakdeng finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, with Ustby adding 16 points and 17 rebounds.
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“This team has been through a lot,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “We had two choices. You can outscore them or try to stop them. I think a lot of people try to outscore them, but our guys totally locked into the defensive game plan so we could make tough looks out of them.”
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North Carolina improves its all-time record to 22-6 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels will play the winner of overall No. 1 seed South Carolina and 16-seeded Presbyterian on Sunday. The Tar Heels and Gamecocks played on Nov. 30, with South Carolina earning a 65-58 victory.
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UNC (20-12), which led by as many as 16, had to survive a late push by the Spartans. The Heels’ lead was double digits for most of the second half until Michigan State pulled within one point, 57-56, on a 3-pointer from Theryn Hallock with five seconds remaining.
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But the Tar Heels sealed it late, despite missing 2-of-4 free throws in the final five seconds, by coming up with the offensive rebound after each miss. North Carolina outrebounded Michigan State, 45-27.
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“I thought we set the tempo the way we wanted to,” Banghart said. “We wanted to play through our bigs because of their size.”
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The Spartans (22-9) came in as the sixth-highest scoring team in the country at 83.7 points per game. They barely reached half that total against a Tar Heels defense that blocked 10 shots, outrebounded the Spartans 18-6 on the offensive glass and dominated in the paint with Gakdeng and Ustby.
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The Tar Heels outscored MSU 36-24 on points in the paint, but set the tone early by scoring 18 of their first 21 points from inside.
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“Once we started pounding them in the paint at the beginning then I kind of get to dissect and find where they overcompensate,” Ustby said. “That led to other openings we could take advantage of as well.”
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Ustby became the first ACC player since 2000 to record at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a game. It was her 16th double-double of the season and the 38th of her career.
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UNC had a 15-day break since losing to Miami 60-59 on March 7 in the ACC Tournament, but never looked rusty. North Carolina never trailed and led by as many as 16 points in the first half. The lead was 35-27 at the half, and after the Tar Heels scored the first four points of the third quarter, the lead hovered around double digits until Michigan State made its late push.
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Deja Kelly added 13 points for North Carolina. Michigan State received 14 points each from Hallock and Julia Ayrault and 13 points from Moira Joiner.
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The victory was the 350th of Banghart’s career.
Esta historia fue publicada por primera vez. 22 de marzo de 2024, 14:54.
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