Alyssa Ustby scored 10 points and added nine rebounds to become UNC’s all-time leading rebounder as the No. 3 seed Tar Heels defeated No. 14 seed Oregon State 70-49 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Carmichael Arena Saturday afternoon. It was the first NCAA Tournament game to be played at Carmichael since 2015.

“It’s hard to come to a place like this and do something that hasn’t been done before,” head coach Courtney Banghart said of Ustby after the game. “I’m super proud that I get to be the one that coached her, the one who has now the rebound record at the University of North Carolina.”

Lexi Donarski made her first five three-point attempts of the third quarter to help the Tar Heels blow open what had been a close game. The visiting Beavers led briefly in the second quarter, outscoring Carolina 15-11 in the period to enter halftime trailing 26-24. UNC shot just 12-34 (35.3 percent) in the first half.

Donarski’s offensive explosion saw her score her team’s first 14 points of the third quarter after finishing the first half with only two. By the time Donarski’s fifth three found the bottom of the net, UNC led 49-31 and had blitzed the Beavers 23-7 in the opening seven minutes of the second half. The third quarter ended with UNC leading 56-33, the Tar Heels having outscored Oregon State 30-9 and shooting 11-17 (64.7 percent) in the process. Carolina would lead by as many as 25 points early in the fourth.

“I feel like we came out with a different mentality in that third quarter and that just really pushed us forward,” Donarski said.

Donarski led all scorers with 19 points and finished 5-8 on threes. Maria Gakdeng added 13 on 5-8 shooting. Ten different Tar Heels scored. Ustby grabbed her ninth and record-setting rebound midway through the fourth quarter, giving her 1,252 in her UNC career and moving her past Bernadette McGlade into first place on the program’s all-time rebounding list. McGlade played her last game as a Tar Heel in 1980.

“I know what I came here to do, which is to give my college career my all and try to make an impact, and I want to be a part of a team that makes it really far in March and wins a championship,” Ustby said. “So that’s what we’re set to do and our sights are set on that, but maybe further down the road I’ll zoom out and appreciate [the record] a little bit more.”

UNC’s defense suffocated the Oregon State offense, holding the Beavers to 19-54 (35.2 percent) from the floor. Oregon State made only four threes on the day, one shy of the amount Donarski made in a seven-minute span in the third quarter. The Beavers’ 49-point showing marks the eighth time this season the Tar Heels have held an opponent to fewer than 50 points.

The win improves UNC to 28-7 on the season and is the program’s fourth straight win in the NCAA Tournament’s first round. The Tar Heels will face No. 6 seed West Virginia in the second round Monday in Chapel Hill.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Ben McKeown

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