The UNC women's basketball program lives to see another day.
A dominant third quarter helped guide the Tar Heels to a win over Oregon State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The win secures North Carolina a spot in the Round of 32, as they'll face (and host) West Virginia on Monday.
Early on, foul trouble impacted the Tar Heels, as both Maria Gakdeng and Indya Nivar had two fouls in the first quarter of action. To add to that, North Carolina was struggling from the floor, allowing the Beavers to stay in the game.
Based on the final score, you probably wouldn't think the game was close at the break, but the Tar Heels held a two-point lead as they head to the locker room.
Once the third quarter started, it was all North Carolina from there.
Lexi Donarski scored 14 consecutive points to open up the third quarter, a run that helped North Carolina pull away for good. The fifth-year graduate student knocked down five three-pointers in the frame as North Carolina outscored Oregon State 30-9 over the first 10 minutes of the second half.
Talk about dominance!
Donarski led all scorers with 19 points. Maria Gakdeng paced the offense with 13 points of her own while Alyssa Ustby (who broke the UNC women's basketball record for all-time career rebounds) finished one board shy of a double-double.
While the first half was a dog fight, North Carolina proved that they were clearly the better team over the final 20 minutes of action. Just seeing the Tar Heels playing an NCAA Tournament game at Carmichael Arena was incredible in itself, as UNC women's basketball fans have waited quite some time to cheer on their favorite team in postseason play at home.
The good news is: fans will get one more opportunity to do so on Monday!