Mom drives across states to watch daughters in March Madness games for UNC, Tennessee

It’s going to be a busy weekend for Tammy Brown. 

Brown has two daughters playing in March Madness this year: Teonni Key is a sophomore guard/forward for eighth-seeded North Carolina, which beat ninth-seeded Michigan State 59-56 in a game that went down to the wire Friday.

Key came up huge for the Tar Heels, finishing with five points and seven rebounds and tipping out a crucial offensive board with three seconds to play that gave UNC another possession and helped seal the win. Just a couple minutes earlier, she had a big block as Michigan State was making a comeback.

The Tar Heels are playing in Columbia, South Carolina; with the win, they'll now face top-seeded South Carolina, which beat 16th-seeded Presbyterian 91-39. The Tar Heels and Gamecocks met earlier this season in Chapel Hill, using a big third quarter to pull out a 65-58 win.

Tip time Sunday is TBD. 

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But the day between means Brown, who played volleyball at Coastal Carolina, will have time to make the three-hour, 20-minute drive over to NC State to watch older daughter Tamari, a senior for the sixth-seeded Tennessee Lady Vols. Tennessee takes on 11th-seeded Green Bay, with tip scheduled for 12 p.m. ET Saturday. Then Brown will head back to Columbia for North Carolina-South Carolina, Part II.

ESPN reported Brown got into Raleigh, N.C. late Thursday and had time to hug Tamari and hang out with her for awhile before heading to Columbia to watch little sister.

The Key sisters are, well, key players for their respective teams. Teonni averages 2.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game, but any time she’s able to give the Tar Heels more than that — like she is today — it’s a big positive.

Tamari, meanwhile, averages 4.7 points and 3.7 rebounds for the Lady Vols. That Tamari is playing at all this season is a huge accomplishment given that last year, she was ruled out in December after doctors discovered blood clots in her lungs.