Oregon State opens the NCAA women’s basketball tournament with a first-round game Saturday at North Carolina. Here’s what you need to know about the Tar Heels: No. 14 Oregon State (19-15) at No. 3 North Carolina (27-7) When: 1:30 p.m. Saturday Where: Chapel Hill, N.C., Dean Smith Center Line: Tar Heels by 20½ (FanDuel) Series: Oregon State leads 2-1 Coaches: Oregon State, Scott Rueck (15th year, 316-169); North Carolina, Courtney Banghart (sixth year, 123-63). Of interest: No. 3 seed is 120-0 vs. No. 14 seeds in NCAA Tournament games. Also in Chapel Hill: No. 11 Washington (19-13) vs. No. 11 Columbia (23-6), 4 p.m. Thursday; winner plays No. 6 West Virginia (24-7), 11 a.m. Saturday. Second round game between Saturday winners on Monday, time TBD. North Carolina 2024-25 season ACC: 13-5, tied for fourth NCAA NET: No. 20 AP ranking: No. 12 AP preseason ranking: No. 15 Biggest wins: 72-53 over Kentucky (No. 3 NCAA seed, No. 13 in AP), 53-46 over Duke (No. 2 NCAA seed), 66-65 over North Carolina State (No. 2 NCAA seed), 65-62 over California (No. 8 NCAA seed). Notable losses: 69-68 to Connecticut (No. 2 NCAA seed), 76-66 to Notre Dame (No. 2 NCAA seed), 86-64 to Florida State (most one-sided loss of season), 78-75 to Virginia (17-15 team). Players to watch Alyssa Ustby, G: A 6-foot-1 senior, Ustby is a stat sheet filler, as she averages 10.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals a game. Ustby is the Tar Heels leader in assists and rebounds. For a guard, Ustby is capable of huge rebounding performances; during UNC’s past five games, Ustby had an 18 and 16-rebound game. Maria Gakdeng, F: The 6-3 senior is North Carolina’s leading scorer this season at 11.3 points, while averaging 7.7 rebounds a game. Gakdeng has four double-doubles this season, including 21 points and 14 rebounds against Syracuse in February. Lexi Donarski, G: A 6-foot senior, Donarski is North Carolina’s third player with a double-digit scoring average at 10.8 points a game. Donarski, who played three years at Iowa State before transferring to UNC, has been a double-digit in each of her five collegiate seasons. About coach Courtney Banghart Banghart, 46, is wrapping up her 18th year as a college head coach, the last six at North Carolina. Banghart’s previous stop was Princeton, where she coached for 12 years. Barghart has 377 career victories, including 123 at North Carolina. This year’s 27-win squad is her best at UNC. At Princeton, Banghart once guided the Tigers to a 30-0 record heading into the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Banghart hasn’t had a losing season since her first at Princeton. This is her 13th NCAA tournament team. About the Dean Smith Center Also known as the Dean Dome, the 21,750-seat arena is named after legendary Tar Heels men’s coach Dean Smith. It opened in 1986. It is college basketball’s fourth-largest arena, behind Syracuse (34,616), Kentucky (23,000) and Louisville (22,090). The Tar Heels average game attendance is 3,099 this women’s basketball season. NCAA Tournament history This is North Carolina’s sixth consecutive NCAA tourney appearance, and 32nd overall. The Tar Heels won the 1994 national titles, beating Louisiana Tech in the final. UNC has been to three Final Fours, the last appearance coming in 2007. North Carolina has won at least one tournament game the past three years. This is the sixth time the Tar Heels have been a No. 3 seed. UNC won the national title as a 3 seed, but on three occasions didn’t make it out of the second round. --Nick Daschel | ndaschel@oregonian.com | @nickdaschel | @nickdaschel.bsky.social | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.