Playing in its first NCAA Tournament game in four seasons on Saturday in Waco, the ninth-seeded UNC women’s basketball team saw its run ended early–as the No. 8 seed California Golden Bears picked up a 92-72 victory.

UNC (18-15) led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but slowly fell apart as Cal (20-12) received an incredible game from forward Kristine Anigwe to get the victory.

Anigwe scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half, while also grabbing a whopping 22 rebounds in the game–two less than the entire UNC team put together.

The 6-foot-4 senior is the only player in the NCAA this season–men’s or women’s–to post a double-double in every game this season. She also broke the PAC-12’s single-season rebounding record.

“First half, we played pretty doggone good,” UNC head coach Sylvia Hatchell said afterwards. “And then I thought second half, you know, we got a little bit tired
and the rebounding was huge. I mean, that’s been our Achilles’ heel all year is the rebounding.”

Senior guard Paris Kea led the Tar Heels with 22 points in her final game as a collegiate player, while Janelle Bailey (15 points), Shayla Bennett (14) and Taylor Koenen (13) also reached double figures for the day.

 

FINAL BOX SCORE

 

 

Photo via UNC Athletics

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