St. John’s vs. North Carolina – Women’s College Basketball Game Recap – March 18, 2023 | ESPN

COLUMBUS, Ohio — — Deja Kelly had a go-ahead three-point play with 2 seconds left and No. 6 seed North Carolina held on for a 61-59 win over Eleventh-seeded St. John’s within the first spherical of the NCAA Match on Saturday.

The Tar Heels confronted their first deficit of the sport when Danielle Patterson sank a 3-pointer with 6:39 left to play.

The Crimson Storm led for the subsequent four-plus minutes till Paulina Paris was fouled in transition and made the following free throw to tie the sport at 54.

The rating tied twice within the last minute as Mimi Reid made a layup with 6 seconds left to knot the sport at 58.

“This staff has lots of battle,” Reid stated. “In these last minutes, we have been simply always pouring positivity into one another, letting one another know subsequent play we obtained this.”

Kelly drove the left lane and made the free throw to finish the game-winning rating. Patterson then was fouled after a timeout capturing a 3-pointer with simply over a second left that gave the Crimson Storm one final probability.

She missed the primary two free throws and made the third, ending any probability the Crimson Storm needed to tie the sport.

Kelly led North Carolina with 18 factors on 7-of-16 capturing, Kennedy Todd-Williams completed with 14 factors and Alyssa Ustby totaled 13. The Tar Heels shot 42.1% from the sector.

“They name it survive and advance for a cause, and I feel we survived that one,” North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart stated. “Unsure it was the sport that you simply all are going to need to press repeat and hold eternally, however undecided that issues. We’re simply glad to be out of right here with a win.”

St. John’s started 1-of-14 from the sector. The Crimson Storm trailed 12-3 however Jayla Everett scored 5 of her team-leading 17 factors throughout a 7-0 run that introduced them again late within the first quarter.

Patterson completed with 13 factors and Reid had 10.

“We went down, we fought, simply every part I like about the entire group,” St. John’s coach Joe Tartamella stated. “It stinks. However on the finish of the day, we didn’t make the final play that we wanted to and so they did

TAKE WHAT THEY GIVE YOU

Kelly shot a game-high 4-of-8 from the sector and scored 10 factors within the first half.

However up till the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter, she’d gone 1-of-5 within the second half and knew her soar shot wasn’t falling prefer it had earlier than.

After St. John’s tied it at 58 and Kelly discovered herself with the ball because the final six seconds ticked off the clock, she turned to what she may depend on.

“I used to be actually simply considering get to the rim,” Kelly stated. “I knew in the event that they gave me the pull up, I might have taken it however that wasn’t actually falling for me within the second half so I knew in my head I used to be similar to, ‘Get to the bottom, take what they provide you.’”

USTBY HITS 1K

Ustby surpassed 1,000 factors in her profession with a soar shot halfway by the third quarter. She grew to become the fortieth member of the Tar Heels to achieve the milestone.

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH

North Carolina led for the primary 31:17 of sport time — till Patterson’s first 3-pointer tied the sport at 46 factors lower than two minutes into the fourth quarter.

Patterson’s second 3-point shot with 6:39 left meant the Tar Heels would have their backs towards the wall for the primary time within the sport.

One final 7-0 run, sparked by 4 factors from Kelly, put North Carolina in place to take the successful shot within the last minute.

“They’ve simply obtained huge toughness,” Banghart stated. “You stroll away otherwise you stroll into it, and these guys simply fortunately hold selecting to stroll into it.”

BIG PICTURE

St. John’s: The season ends for the Crimson Storm, who obtained off to the perfect begin in program historical past below Large East Coach of the 12 months Tartamella by successful the primary 13 video games of the season.

North Carolina: The Tar Heels allowed St. John’s to shoot 38% though the Crimson Storm shot 57.9% within the second half. North Carolina has held opponents to 41.2% capturing or worse in 4 straight video games.

UP NEXT

North Carolina will play No. 3 Ohio State on Monday.

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AP March Insanity protection: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP–Top25