UNC women’s basketball holds off Michigan State in NCAA Tournament first round game
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.
Mission accomplished.
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.
“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.”
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.
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.
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.
“I thought we set the tempo the way we wanted to,” Banghart said. “We wanted to play through our bigs because of their size.”
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.
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.
“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.”
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.
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.
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.
The victory was the 350th of Banghart’s career.
