Middle Tennessee stuns North Carolina
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They played a lot harder, though, and it was enough to pull off a 67-62 upset Sunday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
“They kept us off guard,” North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “We played Carolina basketball about four minutes. For that four-minute span we were aggressive and taking the ball to the basket and getting at them defensively. They just outplayed us.”
The Lady Raiders (24-7) led 60-48 with 6:30 left, but Jessica Bell scored a pair of rebound baskets to spark a 10-0 run by the Tar Heels (24-7). Fourth-seeded North Carolina cut the lead to 60-58 when Kenya McBee hit two free throws with 3:44 left.
North Carolina had a chance to tie the score at 64, but 6-foot-6 center Candace Sutton missed from underneath. Keisha McClinic hit a free throw to give the Lady Raiders a three-point lead. Ivory Latta then missed a 17-footer for North Carolina and Bell failed on a 3-pointer as the Tar Heels were 0-of-13 on 3-pointers.
Patrice Holmes, who led Middle Tennessee with 18 points, then made a pair of clinching foul shots for Middle Tennessee State, which was 14-of-15 from the line.
“I was very confident,” Holmes said. “There was no doubt in my mind I was going to make those foul shots.”
This was just the second NCAA tournament victory in nine attempts for the 13th-seeded Lady Raiders, who play Tuesday against Notre Dame (20-10). The fifth-seeded Fighting Irish beat Southwest Missouri State 69-65 in overtime Sunday. North Carolina lost in the first round of the tournament for the first time since 1985.
But Middle Tennessee coach Stephany Smith never doubted the Lady Raiders could win.
“My entire staff sincerely believed we could win this game,” she said. “We were selling it to our team. We showed them film. We showed them ways and told them what’s most important. But you never know as a coach if they are buying it or not.”
McClinic, who had 13 points and nine rebounds, said the Lady Raiders never doubted they could win, not even during North Carolina’s 10-0 run.
“Our coaches always tell us the game is full of runs and they made their run. It was time for us to make their run. We just continued to play our ball and not settle down to theirs,” she said. “We just got back into the game. From there we knew in our minds we just had to stay with them.”
Krystle Horton had 16 points for Middle Tennessee and Tia Stovall added 12 points and six rebounds.
Camille Little led the fourth-seeded Tar Heels with 19 points and Bell finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Ivory Latta, who averages 14.3 points a game for the Tar Heels, had just five points, shooting 1-of-13 from the field and 0-of-7 from 3-point range.
“I was just off, that’s all I have to say,” she said.
The Tar Heels outrebounded the Lady Raiders 46-37 and outscored them inside 48-34, but they couldn’t overcome their 17 turnovers. Middle Tennessee scored 20 points off North Carolina’s turnovers, while North Carolina had only 10 points off 14 turnovers by Middle Tennessee State.
After jumping to a 9-2 lead, Middle Tennessee went ahead 18-17 on a layup by Stovall with 7:59 left in the first half. The Lady Raiders led the rest of the way, including 35-26 at halftime.