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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Deja Kelly had 13 points and No. 8 seed North Carolina held off a late run by No. 9 seed Michigan State for a 59-56 victory to start the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
Maria Gakdeng had 17 points and 10 rebounds while Alyssa Ustby had 16 points and 17 rebounds, no grab bigger than pulling down Kelly's final free throw miss with 3.2 seconds left as the clock ran out.
It looked like the Tar Heels (20-12) had this sewn up, opening a 16-point lead early and still leading 54-42 with 3:22 to go. But the Spartans (22-9) had a final rally in them and cut things to 57-56 on Theryn Hallock's 3-pointer from the right corner with 5.4 seconds to go.
But that was as close as they got. Kelly did just enough at the foul line as North Carolina won its third straight opening NCAA game.
The Spartans almost pulled off a dramatic comeback in coach Robyn Fralick's first season. Fralick and North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart have been longtime friends and hugged after their first-ever meeting as opposing coaches.
North Carolina will play the winner of the game between host school and No. 1 overall seed South Carolina and 16th-seeded Presbyterian, the Big South Conference champion, which lost 99-29 on this floor in December.
Ustby had 10 points in the first and second quarters as North Carolina opened a 23-7 lead. Michigan State saw its best players, Julia Ayrault and Moira Joiner, each pick up three fouls in the first 20 minutes.
The Spartans drew within 35-27 at the break after Tory Ozment's one-armed layup as she fell away from the basket.
The 18,000-seat arena steadily filled up throughout the opener of the Albany 1 Regional as South Carolina fans — the team led the nation this season by averaging 16,489 people at its home games — arrived to watch the No. 1 overall seed start tournament play later Friday.
UP NEXT
North Carolina heads to a likely matchup with the host school, the undefeated Gamecocks, on Sunday. The Tar Heels had an 11-point lead over South Carolina at home in the ACC/SEC Challenge in November before falling 65-58.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
