North Carolina
FGCU downs No.18 North Carolina at Gulf Coast Showcase on late shot by Kierra Adams
A day after turning in its worst performance of the season in a lopsided loss to No. 5 Iowa and Caitlin Clark, the FGCU women’s basketball team bounced back in a huge way.
Senior Kierra Adams banked in a drive off a broken play with 7.9 seconds remaining to lift the 65-64 victory over No. 18 North Carolina in the third-place game at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
First, however, the Eagles (5-2) had to survive one final defensive possession where Tar Heels senior guard Deja Kelly got a good look at the basket on a short jumper with one second left but it bounced out, giving FGCU its 25th Power Five win and seventh victory over a ranked opponent in the program’s history.
“I thought we showed a lot of toughness today,” FGCU coach Karl Smesko said. “We were a lot more physical than we were a day ago and our team responded really well to a tough situation. I think it really helped that we got off to a good start.”
From the tip, the Eagles immediately showed much better cohesion than they did against the Hawkeyes, especially on the offensive end. Redshirt junior Maddie Antenucci scored 10 first-quarter points to help power the Eagles to a 23-18 lead after the first quarter.
Saturday: Caitlin Clark, Iowa blow past FGCU to advance to Gulf Coast Showcase championship
“North Carolina is a very physical team so I thought we did a much better job working together to create open shots. Instead of individual play we were screening and cutting and moving the ball.”
Antenucci hit her first five shots, including three from beyond the arc, the last of which gave the Eagles a 28-20 lead with 6:21 left in the second quarter.
The Tar Heels (5-2), who entered the game with one of the best scoring defenses in the nation, held the Eagles to just three points on 1-for-6 shooting the rest of the half, outscoring FGCU 13-3 to take a 33-31 lead at the break.
North Carolina, which shot a season-high 51.2% from the field, extended its lead to 38-31 with 8:11 left in the third quarter. With leading scorer Uju Ezedu held to just one point on three field goal attempts, the Eagles got strong performances from fifth-year player Ajulu Thatha and freshman Cerina Rolle. Thatha, a tranfer from SIU-Edwardsville, stepped out and hit two big 3-pointers in the third quarter while Rolle, who got her first start of the season, scored six of her eight points in the second half before fouling out with 7:37 to play. By then, the Tar Heels lead was down to one point at 56-55.
“To win a game like this you’re going to need efforts from a lot of players,” Smesko said. “Cerina, she’s fearless. You know, she’ll go and attack anybody. That’s something I really like about her. And Juju, she’s a good shooter who can really stretch the floor. She was a big part of helping us get back in the game.”
Senior point guard Dolly Cairns, who’s been a steadying force for FGCU so far this season, scored five straight points for the Eagles to pull them within 64-63 with 3:33 remaining.
That was the score when Smesko called timeout with 29 seconds left to call a play that he said FGCU failed to execute. Still, Adams, who finished with seven points, bailed out the Eagles by banking in a short jumper from the paint with two seconds on the shot clock.
“That play went a lot sideways; we didn’t quite get what we were looking for,” Smesko said. “But we were able to at least keep moving. We found a nice bounce pass to Kiki who cut into an opening and she made a huge shot for us.”
Cairns, who finished with a team-high 18 points to go along with three assists and two steals and was named to the Showcase’s All-Tournament team, said the team’s resilience shone through in the way it rallied in the second half.
“We battled through it,” she said. “Three games in three days it’s tough but I’m just proud of how we struck together. We have a lot of confidence in each other and we all stepped up and made big plays today.”
The tightly officiated game saw the team whistled for 41 fouls, 25 on FGCU. That allowed the Tar Heels to outscore the Eagles 20-10 at the free throw line, but North Carolina missed five foul shots in the final quarter, three by Kelly, who finished with a game-high 24 points. The quicksilver guard also drew 11 fouls, mostly on slippery drives into the paint.
FGCU, however, more than made up for that disparity from beyond the arc where they connected on 11 3-pointers, compared to just two for the Tar Heels.
“I thought for the most part we guarded them well,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “They made some three today that they really haven’t been making in this tournament.”
On Sunday, however, FGCU made those shots when it counted, earning a hard-fought win in a Showcase experience that Smesko said will benefit the Eagles moving forward.
“I think there’s quite a bit we can learn from these games,” he said. “I think over these next two weeks, you’ll see us get better and better because we played in this tournament.
North Carolina
8 now arrested in North Carolina house party shootings and more attempted-murder charges are filed
North Carolina
400-pound monster alligator named Pepe ‘detained’ for ‘being a dinosaur without proper papers’ in NC
The scales of justice came for Pepe.
Cops detained – and rescued – a monster 10-foot alligator they nicknamed Pepe the Gator sunbathing on a busy road in North Carolina and “charged” him on suspicion of being a “dinosaur.”
“Witnesses say he was just chilling and snapping, clearly ignoring the ‘no loitering or lounging on roadways’ sign,” the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a playful press release last week. “Pepe has been cited for Suspicion of Being a Dinosaur Without Proper Papers, Public Loitering with Intent to Sunbathe, and Obstructing Traffic.”
The responding deputies and officers from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission who got the call on May 25 managed to safely remove Pepe, but not before posing for pictures where they straddle him like rodeo riders.
“He was 10 feet long, 400 pounds. He was an absolute monster,” Trevor Dunnell, spokesman for the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office told the Post Thursday.
“They did a fantastic job of wrangling him.”
To indicate the scale of the gator, Dunnell pointed out how, in the picture, even with three grown men on top of him, Pepe’s still not covered.
“The picture really doesn’t do it justice, I mean 10 feet … 10 feet is a basketball goal, that is a massive creature,” he said.
Although 10 feet seems big, it’s nothing compared to the largest gator on record – 14 feet and 3 and a half inches.
Deputies and wildlife officials used a towel to cover Pepe’s eyes — eye contact is what triggers the animal’s notorious death roll, Dunnell explained — and electrical tape to seal his mouth shut.
“It was definitely some MacGyver stuff they had to use,” he said. “He may not have a good time during the removal, but he was playfully enough about it later to understand that, ‘Hey, man, you gotta do what you gotta do.’”
Dunnell said the office received blowback from people online wishing the cops had just left Pepe alone. but Dunnell was quick to point out that leaving the reptile on the side of the road could have posed a hazard not only to residents but also to the gator.
“You never know what can happen when kids are running around,” he said. “And the gator could wind up in the middle of the road. It could hurt drivers but it could hurt him, too.”
Dunnell said he hopes to see body camera footage of Pepe’s apprehension. The two deputies and the wildlife official in the picture are happy to be riding him, Dunnell said, adding that if authorities encounter another Pepe, they’ll know who to call.
“But some deputies were absolutely not fine,” he said. “When they got back, they were saying, ‘You’re not going to catch me on that thing. I’m not going to go anywhere near it!’”
Pepe was far from home, and Dunnell suspects that it was a hot day and he was looking for a good spot to bask.
“How far he wandered is anybody’s guess,” he said. “It must’ve been several miles at least.”
After further investigation, Dunnell said, they declined to charge Pepe. Instead, they drove him to a boat ramp at nearby Camp Geiger, a satellite facility of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
“I think we’ve touched base with the gator and let him know we dropped the charges,” he joked.
“Pepe’s back to his normal routine, he’s hanging out near the beach and lounging in his natural habitat, hunting for his food and looking for a girlfriend.”
Tech giant Amazon has announced a $10bn investment in the US state of North Carolina to expand its data centre infrastructure.
The project aims to support advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing technologies.
The investment, according to the company, will create at least 500 “high-skilled” jobs.
It will also support thousands of additional jobs within the Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centre supply chain.
According to Amazon’s press release, the rising demand for generative AI is increasing the need for advanced cloud infrastructure and compute power.
This expansion will strengthen AWS data centres in the state.
Commenting on the move, Amazon chief global affairs and legal officer David Zapolsky said: “Amazon’s $10bn investment in North Carolina underscores our commitment to driving innovation and advancing the future of cloud computing and AI technologies.”
“We look forward to partnering with state and local leaders, local suppliers, and educational institutions to nurture the next generation of talent.”
In a separate development, Amazon is reportedly developing software for humanoid robots.
These robots could potentially replace delivery workers, Reuters reported citing a report published by The Information, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The company is building a “humanoid park,” an indoor obstacle course, at one of its San Francisco offices to test these robots. Amazon is focusing on developing the AI software for these robots while using hardware from other firms for testing.
Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Recently, Amazon started testing a new feature that uses generative AI (genAI) to create short-form audio summaries on select product detail pages.
The feature provides concise overviews of products by analysing product details, customer reviews, and other relevant online information.
The initial test feature targets products that often require careful consideration before buying, offering clear insights through in-depth discussion to help Amazon customers shop more efficiently, the company said in a post.
Sign up for our daily news round-up!
Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections to take over privately run Lawton prison in July
This cozy bakery on the Oregon coast serves incredible pastries just steps from the beach
Don’t undercut Pennsylvania’s hydrogen opportunity | Opinion
Take a look at the ceremony at the Rhode Island State House to showcase Portuguese culture
South Carolina Gamecocks Boast Top Transfer Portal Class in College Baseball
-
News1 week agoVideo: Faizan Zaki Wins Spelling Bee
-
News1 week agoVideo: Harvard Commencement Speaker Congratulates and Thanks Graduates
-
Politics7 days agoMichelle Obama facing backlash over claim about women's reproductive health
-
Politics1 week agoMusk officially steps down from DOGE after wrapping work streamlining government
-
Technology1 week agoAI could consume more power than Bitcoin by the end of 2025
-
News1 week agoPresident Trump pardons rapper NBA YoungBoy in flurry of clemency actions
-
Technology1 week agoOpenAI wants ChatGPT to be a ‘super assistant’ for every part of your life
-
Technology1 week agoSEC drops Binance lawsuit in yet another gift to crypto