Junior center Jasmine Hines looks to shoot March 25, 2014, during a game against North Carolina at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Spartans lost, 62-53. Erin Hampton/The State News
—CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — MSU trails North Carolina, 36-27, at halftime of the NCAA Tournament second round game at Carmichael Arena at Chapel Hill, N.C.
Despite missing time in the first half because of an injury, NCAA Freshman of the Year Diamond DeShields of North Carolina has 18 points and seven rebounds.
North Carolina has never trailed in the game, with its largest lead of 13.
MSU junior center Jasmine Hines leads MSU in scoring with nine points. MSU as a whole shot 32 percent from the field, while North Carolina only shot 33 percent.
Freshman guard — and MSU leading scorer — Aerial Powers finished the half 0-of-2 shooting with zero points. Powers picked up her second foul at the 13:34 mark of the half and didn’t return the rest of the way.
North Carolina got off to a hot start, jumping to an early 8-2 lead and forcing head coach Suzy Merchant to call timeout only 3:26 into the game.
The Tar Heels would extend their lead to 10 on a 9-0 run before MSU scored again. During the run DeShields had eight points.
DeShields went down with an injury after hitting her head on a Spartan defender’s knee while driving to the hoop.
She would leave the game for nearly four minutes, but MSU was only able to reduce the deficit to six points in that span.
Hines was able to help spark some life into the Spartans, scoring nine straight points for MSU during a 5:02 span, but the green and white would not get any closer than six of North Carolina in the half.
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