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Why North Carolina won

Perseverance and a deep bench helped the Tar Heels move on to the semifinals. North Carolina finished with one player that had fouled out and four with four fouls, but they dug in defensively and made stop-after-stop to hold on after building a 17-point second-half lead.

Why Florida State lost

The Seminoles found their rhythm midway through the second half, cutting the lead to 58-57 on two free throws by Christian Hunnicutt with 9:28 to play. FSU didn't hit a field goal for the final 10 minutes of the game, a string of 18 straight misses.

Records

North Carolina 24-7, Florida State 23-7

Play of the game

After Florida State cut the lead to 58-57, the Tar Heels missed a shot. There was a scrum for the ball on the rebound and the referee from the far side of the court said one of the Seminoles intentionally kicked the ball. It was a ruled an alternating possession and North Carolina got the ball back. Laura Broomfield hit two free throws to give the momentum back to the Tar Heels.

The key player

Although she fouled out with 5:32 to play, Broomfield provided much needed help on the front line while other players were sitting out with foul trouble. She finished with a team-high 15 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, including six offensive rebounds.

What she said

"Well, just be glad you got a deep bench, and we do. We have depth on our team, and I have a lot of confidence in all our players. We moved a lot of kids around at different positions today. I just kept telling them play hard, play hard."

— North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell

Noting the game

There were 48 total fouls and the teams combined for a tournament-record 56 free throws. That beat the old record of 53, which has occurred three times, most recently in 1997. ... The Tar Heels now have 53 tournament wins, which is also the record. Maryland is second with 46 wins.

NORTH CAROLINA (24-7) — Breland 3-11 6-6 12, Shegog 3-7 1-2 7, Gross 2-2 1-4 5, DeGraffenreid 3-5 4-4 11, Lucas 5-12 0-0 13, White 0-2 0-0 0, Wood 0-1 0-0 0, Rolle 2-5 5-6 9, Broomfield 4-10 7-8 15, Ruffin-Pratt 1-5 3-4 6. Totals 23-60 27-34 78.

FLORIDA STATE (23-7) — Howard 2-5 3-4 7, Bravard 4-12 12-15 20, Deluzio 2-11 6-6 10, Hunnicutt 2-7 2-2 6, Ward 3-12 2-2 11, Clayton 2-8 0-0 5, Mingo 0-0 0-0 0, Bresnahan 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 1-6 4-4 6. Totals 16-61 29-33 65.

Halftime—North Carolina 39-24.

3-point goals—North Carolina 5-15 (Lucas 3-6, DeGraffenreid 1-2, Ruffin-Pratt 1-3, Wood 0-1, Breland 0-1, White 0-2), Florida State 4-22 (Ward 3-12, Clayton 1-3, Howard 0-1, Deluzio 0-6).

Fouled out—Broomfield.

Rebounds—North Carolina 40 (Broomfield 11), Florida State 45 (Bravard 12).

Assists—North Carolina 13 (DeGraffenreid 4), Florida State 10 (Ward 4).

Total fouls—North Carolina 27, Florida State 21.

A—7,143.