UNC women's hoops survives in 59-56 thriller over Michigan State to advance to NCAAT second round

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 8 seeded North Carolina women’s basketball team (20-12, 11-7 ACC) handled No. 9 seeded Michigan State (22-9, 12-6 Big Ten) in a 59-56 victory during the first round of the NCAA tournament at Colonial Life Arena on Friday.

Junior center Maria Gakdeng’s team-high 17-point double-double and senior guard Alyssa Ustby’s 16-point and 17-rebound performance helped push UNC to the second round. The Tar Heels dominated in the paint, outscoring the Spartans by 12 points. 

The Tar Heels jumped out of the gates immediately. Following an and-1 play from Gakdeng in the first minute, North Carolina continued to succeed in the paint.

“Once we start pounding them in the paint in the beginning like you pointed out, then I get to like kind of dissect and find where they are trying to overcompensate,” Ustby said. 

While extending its lead to as much as 16 points, UNC held the Spartans to 10 points by crowding lanes and forcing contested perimeter shooting. By driving to the rim and feeding the post, Gakdeng and Ustby led the scoring brigade with a combined 15 points. 

“[By] having my height advantage part of the game plan, [I knew] they were going to shoot a lot of shots and we'd have to rebound,” Gakdeng said. “So using my body, getting into them and getting those rebounds was going to be important.”

UNC continued its hot streak into the second quarter. As the Spartans went on a four-minute scoring drought, the Tar Heels went on a seven-point run. But as the half came to a close, Michigan State began to find its footing.

While North Carolina worked to maintain its double-digit lead, Michigan State’s Tory Ozment made a buzzer-beater layup to inch closer to the Tar Heels. Going into halftime, UNC led 35-27. 

To open the second half, Gakdeng continued to apply pressure. At the six-minute media timeout, a scoreless MSU squad could not stop Gakdeng as she continued to work in the paint. The Tar Heels regained a 12-point lead with the help of the center’s early four points. 

For the rest of the third quarter, both teams struggled to find an offensive rhythm as each shot 25 percent or below. Despite their incoherent offense, the Tar Heels held onto a 9-point lead. 

In the fourth quarter, the Spartans worked to make a late-game run by forcing the Tar Heels to play uptempo MSU-style basketball. With less than a minute to play, MSU closed North Carolina’s lead to a mere one point as the Carolina Blue-clad team went on a three-minute scoring drought. 

Even with the late heroics, senior guard Deja Kelly collected an offensive rebound with three seconds remaining to help the Tar Heels advance in the Big Dance.

“The end game, you know, I think we'll probably fast forward that part,” head coach Courtney Banghart said. 

The Tar Heels will advance to the second round where they will play No. 1 seeded South Carolina or No. 16 seeded Presbyterian on Sunday.

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