The No. 9-seeded Michigan State Spartans will take on the No. 8-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels Friday morning at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The matchup marks the first time the two programs will meet since 2014.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck on the call from Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.
The 2024 NCAA Tournament marks the 16th out of the past 21 that the Spartans have competed in the event with a 19-18 all-time record in the "Big Dance." The visit to Columbia marks the second time MSU has participated in the NCAA Tournament there, falling 73-61 in South Carolina as the No. 9 seed in 2017 to No. 8 Arizona State.
However, it's a lot of new faces to the members of the MSU women's program this season. First year head coach Robyn Fralick saw her team earn a bid in the first attempt with her at the helm, and the trip marks her first as a head coach at the Division I level. Fralick became the first ever Spartan head coach to lead the program to an NCAA Tournament in their first season. She holds a career 12-2 record at the Division II level in the NCAA Tournament as well.
As for the roster, Michigan State has just three players who have previously played in the Big Dance. Graduate guard/forward Tory Ozment has played in two NCAA games, a 91-63 loss at Notre Dame in 2019 and a 79-75 loss to Iowa State in 2021. Graduate guards Moira Joiner and Julia Ayrault also each played in the loss to the Cyclones in 2021 as well.
MSU arrives battle tested against tournament ready teams, having faced seven teams during the regular season that earned bids this year, including six from the Big Ten. The Spartans went 3-7 against those squads, boasting two wins over No. 9-seeded Michigan and a victory over No. 10-seeded Maryland.
The Spartans finished the season 22-8 overall and 12-6 in Big Ten action. MSU also boasts a 3-2 record on neutral courts this season, going 1-1 in Cancun, 2-0 in the Cherokee Invitational, and 0-1 in the Big Ten Tournament.
As for UNC, the Tar Heels enter Friday's game with a 19-12 record overall and went 11-7 in ACC play. UNC lost its first game of the ACC Tournament, falling 60-59 to Miami on Thursday, March 7 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Tar Heels are led by senior guard Deja Kelly and senior guard/forward Alyssa Ustby. Both leading scorers earned All-ACC honors with Kelly being named First-Team for a third-straight season, buoyed by her 16.7 points per game alongside 3.3 assists per game, 4.0 rebounds per game, and 1.4 steals per game.
Utsby earned Second-Team honors this season, though she earned First-Team last season and Second-Team as a sophomore. Utsby is averaging 12.4 ppg, and leads the team on the glass with 9.3 rpg.
Iowa State transfer graduate guard Lexi Donarski is the only other Tar Heel averaging double figures scoring with 10.8 ppg. Donarski scored 10 points in the Cyclones' win over MSU in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
The Tar Heels are 50-29 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, taking home the national championship in 1994 with Final Four appearances in 2006 and 2007 as well. 2024's appearance marks a fifth-straight appearance for the program after missing three-straight tournaments from 2016-2018. Head coach Courtney Banghart is in her fifth season leading the program and holds a 95-55 record. Overall she boasts a 349-158 career record that includes 12 seasons at the helm of Princeton.
UNC faced 11 teams that earned NCAA Tournament bids this year, boasting a 5-8 record. The Tar Heels feature wins over Oklahoma, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Louisville, N.C. State, and Duke, with losses to South Carolina, and UConn along with a 0-2 record against Virginia Tech.
The Spartans and Tar Heels do not feature any common opponents from this season, though UNC did defeat Fralick's alma mater Davidson in its second game of the season, downing the Wildcats 74-70 at home in Chapel Hill.
Friday's game will mark the sixth meeting between the programs. North Carolina holds a 4-1 advantage all-time against Michigan State, including a 63-52 victory in the most recent meeting. That 2014 game saw No. 4-seeded UNC defeat No. 5-seeded MSU in Chapel Hill, 63-52 in the second round.
The Tar Heels also hold a 1-0 advantage over the Spartans on neutral courts, besting the Spartans in an 82-65 outing in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina during the 1999-2000 season during which UNC was ranked No. 10/11 respectively at the time of the matchup.
The game on Friday will mark the third meeting between the programs in the NCAA Tournament, the other a 1997 meeting between No. 8-seeded MSU and No. 1-seeded UNC. The Tar Heels won 81-71 in overtime.
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