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  Saturday, Mar. 18 9:35pm ET
Barksdale makes 16 of 23 points in 2nd half
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) -- LaQuanda Barksdale scored 16 of her 23 points in the second half Saturday night as North Carolina rallied for a 62-57 victory over Maine in the first round of the omen's NCAA West Regional.

The fifth-seeded Tar Heels (19-12), who trailed by as many as 11 points early in the second half, next face Rice, which upset No. 9 UC Santa Barbara 67-64 Saturday night, on Monday night for a berth in the round of 16.

Maine, whose coach, Joanne Palombo-McCallie, made the trip west despite being eight months pregnant, finished the season 20-11.

Jamie Cassidy, who led the 12th-seeded Black Bears with 30 points and nine rebounds, scored four straight points to tie the game 50-all with 5:21 left, but the Tar Heels scored the next five points to go ahead for good.

Nikki Teasley's 3-point shot with 1:35 to play gave North Carolina a 58-52 lead. Cassidy scored five straight to cut the Tar Heels' lead to one point with 43.4 seconds to go, but Maine wouldn't score again.

Teasley set up Barksdale for a layup with 19.7 seconds to play, and Teasley added two free throws 10 seconds later to complete the scoring.

Barksdale, who also had 13 rebounds, scored nine straight points to give North Carolina a 43-42 lead -- its first of the game -- midway through the second half. The Tar Heels never trailed after that.

Jackie Higgins came off the bench to score 16 points and Teasley had 14 points and eight assists for the Tar Heels, who have won seven of their last eight games.

Averaging 71.5 points, the Tar Heels scored only eight before Barksdale's three-point play with 6:26 to play in the first half ended a scoring drought of over six minutes and cut Maine's lead to 16-11.

Thanks mainly to Cassidy's 15 points and six rebounds, the Black Bears led 24-20 at halftime.
 


ALSO SEE
Womens College Basketball Scoreboard

Maine NCAA Team Report

North Carolina NCAA Team Report