Mar. 16, 1997

Michigan State Falls in Overtime to North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Marion Jones scored 28 points and Chanel Wright made a three-pointer at the end of regualtion as top-seeded North Carolina, on its home floor, rallied for an 81-71 overtime victory over Michigan State in the second round of the East Region.

North Carolina (28-2) let the clock run down and called a timeout with five seconds left before Wright made a shot from well behind the top right of the key to tie the score at 63-63.

Tracy Reid added had 25 points and 15 rebounds for North Carolina, which pulled away in overtime and faces the George Washington-Tulane winner in the East Region semifinals.

Cheri Euler scored 22 points and Jamie Wesley added 16 for Michigan State (22-8), which defeated Portland in overtime in the first round and fell to 2-3 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

Jones made a free throw to give the Tar Heels a 64-63 edge with 4:44 left in overtime. Jamie Wesley answered with a three-pointer to give Michigan State its only lead of the overtime, 66-64.

Reid's jumper tied the score 66-66 and started a 13-0 burst with 4:10 to go. Jones made a jumper to cap it and give North Carolina a 79-66 advantage with 26 seconds left.

Wesley hit a jumper to cap a 12-2 spurt and give Michigan State its biggest lead, 52-42, with 9:13 left in the second half. But Jones' jumper capped a 6-0 spurt as North Carolina cut the deficit to 54-51 with 6:48 left.

NCAA WOMENS BB
MICHIGAN ST (71)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Sanders         33   3-8   2-2   4-7  1  4    8
Euler           36 10-15   2-2   2-2  5  5   22
Rasmussen       30   4-9   0-0   3-9  3  4    8
Matlock         40   1-5   0-0   0-5  3  1    2
Wesley          41  7-16   0-0   2-5  4  3   16
Reese           19  2-10   0-0   1-2  0  1    6
Cushing         16   1-1   1-2   0-1  0  2    3
Winberg         10   3-5   0-0   0-0  1  0    6
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         225 31-69   5-6 12-31 17 20   71
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.449, FT-.833. 3-Point Goals:
4-14, .286 (Euler 0-1, Wesley 2-5, Reese 2-8).
Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 2 (Sanders,
Cushing). Turnovers: 21 (Euler 6, Matlock 6,
Wesley 3, Cushing 2, Sanders 2, Rasmussen,
Reese). Steals: 12 (Wesley 6, Euler 2, Cushing,
Matlock, Rasmussen, Sanders).
NORTH CAROLINA (81)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Reid            43 10-17   5-8  6-15  2  2   25
Gear            25   0-3   2-2   0-1  4  0    2
S Walker        28   2-5   2-2   3-3  0  2    6
Wright          42  5-12   1-3   1-8  3  1   13
Jones           43 12-21   2-4   1-2  2  4   27
Gaspar          25   2-8   0-2   2-3  1  2    4
N Walker        14   0-1   4-4   3-6  0  0    4
Clay             2   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Johnson          3   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         225 31-68 16-25 16-38 12 11   81
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Percentages: FG-.456, FT-.640. 3-Point Goals:
3-16, .188 (Gear 0-2, Wright 2-5, Jones 1-6,
Gaspar 0-3). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 2
(Reid, Jones). Turnovers: 18 (Gaspar 4, Wright 4,
Reid 3, Jones 2, S Walker 2, Clay, Johnson, N
Walker). Steals: 13 (Jones 4, Reid 3, Wright 2,
Gaspar, Gear, N Walker, S Walker).
_______________________________________
Michigan St        26   37    8  -   71
North Carolina     28   35   18  -   81
_______________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 3,772. Officials:
Violet Palmer, Jerry Gibbons, Joe Cronin.

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