SEATTLE — Guard Tiffanie Shives dropped in four 3-pointers in a span of three minutes to spark a late Gonzaga surge and help lift the Bulldogs to an 82-76 victory over North Carolina in a first-round game of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament on Saturday night.
Shives, a senior who missed most of last season with a midseason injury, did not score until nine minutes remained in the game. She scored first with a short jump shot and followed with her barrage of 3s as Gonzaga went on top to stay against the Tar Heels.
“It was time for me to knock down some shots,” said Shives, who missed her first three shots from the field. In the second half, she added, “I was able to get them falling, which was great for our team.”
The victory lifts Gonzaga, the champion of the West Coast Conference regular season and the league tournament, into a 6:30 p.m. Monday game against Texas A&M in a second-round game at Bank of America Arena.
Gonzaga trailed 62-60 with 7:36 minutes remaining when Shives scored a 3-pointer from left of the key, and the Bulldogs never trailed again. She followed with another 30 seconds later and a third from the left baseline with 6:00 showing for a 69-65 Gonzaga lead.
After North Carolina crept back to tie the score, Shives scored her fourth 3-pointer with 4:28 on the clock, giving the Bulldogs a lead they held the rest of the way.
The Tar Heels were within four with 14 seconds remaining, but Shives swished two free throws with four seconds on the clock for the game’s final points.
“It was certainly a game that could’ve gone either way,” said Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves, whose team improved to 28-4. “If I was a fan and not the coach, I would’ve thought that was a great basketball. Well played by both teams.
“This is a great day for our institution,” he added. “North Carolina is really the standard by which a lot of college basketball programs are judged, so we feel very fortunate.”
Backup guard/forward Katelan Redmon, a former Washington player, led the Bulldogs with 18 points. Shives and forward Vivian Frieson each added 16 (Frieson also had 13 rebounds), and forward Heather Bowman scored 14.
Gonzaga guard Courtney Vandersloot had nine points, 15 assists and five steals.
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