University of North Carolina Athletics
Freshmen Ciera Toomey and Laila Hull will experience their first NCAA Tournament.
WBB Arrives In Columbia To Prep For Michigan State Matchup
March 20, 2024 | Women's Basketball
COLUMBIA, S.C. – After flying to Texas, Arizona and Ohio to kick off the last three NCAA Tournaments, the UNC women's basketball team needed only a bus ride to reach its destination for the 2024 event. After practicing at Carmichael on Wednesday afternoon, the Tar Heels bused to Columbia, S.C., where they'll take on Michigan State in a first-round game on Friday.
The Tar Heels are set for a morning of press conferences and then practice on Thursday as they look ahead to their matchup with the Spartans. The teams will meet for the first time since the 2014 NCAA Tournament, in which UNC won a second-round game in Chapel Hill.
This time around the two will face off at Colonial Life Arena for a Friday morning tipoff. With an 11:30 a.m. start, the Tar Heels and Spartans will kick off the NCAA first round action.
Heels vs. Spartans
The Tar Heels and Spartans are meeting for the sixth time overall and the first time since the 2014 NCAA Tournament. UNC leads the series 4-1.
Last meeting: On March 25, 2014, UNC and MSU met in Chapel Hill in an NCAA Tournament second round game hosted by Carolina. UNC was the No. 4 seed and beat the fifth-seeded Spartans 62-53 to advance to a Sweet 16 meeting with top-seeded South Carolina at Stanford. UNC won that game 65-58 to reach the Elite 8 before falling to the host Cardinal.
Although successful, the 2013-14 season was an unusual one for Carolina, as assistant head coach Andrew Calder served as the acting head coach while head coach Sylvia Hatchell stepped away during treatment for leukemia.
OT in 1997: The teams also met in the 1997 NCAA Tournament, with Carolina winning a second round game in Chapel Hill, 81-71 in overtime. That win advanced UNC to the Sweet 16 in, coincidentally, Columbia, S.C. The top-seeded Tar Heels fell to fifth-seeded George Washington in that game, UNC's only previous NCAA Tournament action in the state of South Carolina.
S.C. history: The only previous neutral-site matchup between North Carolina and Michigan State also took place in the state of South Carolina. On Dec. 19, 1999, the Tar Heels and Spartans squared off in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. UNC won 82-65 and went on to a 20-13 record and Sweet 16 finish.
UNC vs. the Big Ten: In any other year, the Tar Heels would have played at least one Big Ten opponent as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. But in 2023-24, that event pivoted to ACC/SEC, setting up a Nov. 30 meeting with the Gamecocks in Chapel Hill. As a result, Michigan State is UNC's first Big Ten opponent of the season.
The Tar Heels are set for a morning of press conferences and then practice on Thursday as they look ahead to their matchup with the Spartans. The teams will meet for the first time since the 2014 NCAA Tournament, in which UNC won a second-round game in Chapel Hill.
This time around the two will face off at Colonial Life Arena for a Friday morning tipoff. With an 11:30 a.m. start, the Tar Heels and Spartans will kick off the NCAA first round action.
Heels are here📍#GoHeels | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/Q07HogEXcK
— Carolina Women's Basketball (@uncwbb) March 21, 2024
Heels vs. Spartans
The Tar Heels and Spartans are meeting for the sixth time overall and the first time since the 2014 NCAA Tournament. UNC leads the series 4-1.
Last meeting: On March 25, 2014, UNC and MSU met in Chapel Hill in an NCAA Tournament second round game hosted by Carolina. UNC was the No. 4 seed and beat the fifth-seeded Spartans 62-53 to advance to a Sweet 16 meeting with top-seeded South Carolina at Stanford. UNC won that game 65-58 to reach the Elite 8 before falling to the host Cardinal.
Although successful, the 2013-14 season was an unusual one for Carolina, as assistant head coach Andrew Calder served as the acting head coach while head coach Sylvia Hatchell stepped away during treatment for leukemia.
OT in 1997: The teams also met in the 1997 NCAA Tournament, with Carolina winning a second round game in Chapel Hill, 81-71 in overtime. That win advanced UNC to the Sweet 16 in, coincidentally, Columbia, S.C. The top-seeded Tar Heels fell to fifth-seeded George Washington in that game, UNC's only previous NCAA Tournament action in the state of South Carolina.
S.C. history: The only previous neutral-site matchup between North Carolina and Michigan State also took place in the state of South Carolina. On Dec. 19, 1999, the Tar Heels and Spartans squared off in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. UNC won 82-65 and went on to a 20-13 record and Sweet 16 finish.
UNC vs. the Big Ten: In any other year, the Tar Heels would have played at least one Big Ten opponent as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. But in 2023-24, that event pivoted to ACC/SEC, setting up a Nov. 30 meeting with the Gamecocks in Chapel Hill. As a result, Michigan State is UNC's first Big Ten opponent of the season.
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