No. 3 seed UNC women’s basketball advances to second round of NCAA tournament

The 3-seeded UNC women’s basketball team (28-7, 13-5 ACC) won its matchup against 14-seeded Oregon State (19-16, 12-8 WCC), 70-49, on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Carmichael Arena. 

Foul trouble and poor shooting plagued North Carolina in the first half, but graduate guard Lexi Donarski put the team on her back in the third quarter, beginning with an 11-0 run. 

“We’ve improved a lot in different areas, but I felt like it was kind of hard to show it today because we were all a little late on things and just weren’t as cohesive as we normally are,” graduate forward Alyssa Ustby said. “But that’s what the first game is for, and we’re glad that we got it done.”

Oregon State scored the first points of the game. Late in the shot clock, a short jumper bounced off the rim, hit the backboard, and fell through the basket. 

Ustby responded with two layups. The second came on a rebound and put back after junior guard Indiya Nivar missed the layup attempt on a turnover and run out. 

“Rebounding is a toughness stat, especially at 6-2, guarding a 6-7 kid today,” head coach Courtney Banghart said. “On both ends she's had key rebounding. I can think of countless games where her rebounding impacted our winning.”

After a free throw brought Oregon State within one point at 6-5, neither team made a field goal for over a minute, trading missed jumpers. 

Senior center Maria Gakdeng broke the stalemate, grabbing an offensive board and putting up a layup through contact for an and-1, hitting the free throw. 

Three straight turnovers by the Beavers sent UNC on a 6-0 run punctuated by another layup from Gakdeng, who circled around the defender in the low post and pivoted for the put in. 

At the quarter break, the Tar Heels were up 15-9, but both Gakdeng and Nivar had two fouls. 

North Carolina struggled to hit in the second quarter, not scoring until almost five minutes in. It forced several missed shots, but four Oregon State baskets tied the game. 

The first three-pointer of the game went to Oregon State guard AJ Marotte to make the score 20-17 OSU. 

Two minutes later, after six missed attempts, first year guard Lanie Grant drained UNC’s first three-pointer to tie the game again at 22. The Tar Heels created some momentum as the half came to a close, hitting a floater and a jumper to take a 26-24 lead at halftime. 

North Carolina carried the momentum into the third quarter. Donarski hit one three pointer, then Gakdeng caught a bad Oregon St. pass and sent the ball again to Donarski on the wing for another shot from downtown. 

“That was our whole discussion at halftime like, ‘look, we’re getting all the shots we wanted, maybe we’re a little rusty because we had two weeks without a game, but whatever it is we just need to keep shooting the ball,’” Donarski said.

Donarski’s heroics continued. Almost four minutes into the quarter, she was the only player who had scored. Her 11-0 run gave the Tar Heels 13 point lead. 

The Beavers had no answer for UNC, which made six three-pointers in the third and took a 56-33 lead. 

Oregon St. played with urgency to start the fourth quarter, but it couldn’t get enough shots to fall. 

Ustby broke the all-time rebounding record at North Carolina with a board and a put back layup. 

North Carolina shot over 54% from the field in the second half on the way to the 21 point victory. 

The Tar Heels will face 6-seeded West Virginia on Monday in Carmichael Arena. 

@BeckettBrant