Monday evening North Carolina women’s basketball freshman Diamond DeShields sat with her teammates, watching the NCAA Tournament selection show full of hope and bewilderment.
“I was shocked at how confused I was,” DeShields said in a statement. “I didn’t know what was going on and still don’t understand the seeds and the brackets.”
For simplicity’s sake, here’s what she (and everyone else) should know:
The No. 12 Tar Heels (24-9) earned a No. 4 seed in the Stanford Region of the NCAA Tournament. UNC will play No. 13-seed University of Tennessee at Martin (24-7) Sunday at 3 p.m. at Carmichael Arena.
UT Martin won its fourth consecutive Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship, subsequently earning its bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Skyhawks played one game against an ACC team this season, falling to Florida State 76-53 on Dec. 28.
UNC survived the Seminoles 65-61 in the two teams’ only matchup of the season.
However, practically none of that matters to DeShields.
“I just care about who we play,” said DeShields, who, earlier on Monday, was named the Freshman of the Year by espnW.
“I don’t really care who other teams are playing on the other side of the country. I just want to know who we are playing and get ready for that game because that could be the last game of the season.”
