Sports Monday
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BRIAN MURPHY
PLAYER TO BE NAMED LATER
Tar Heel Woes
Grow With
Terp Drubbing
This season was supposed to work
differently. It was supposed to
start out rough and then get bet
ter.
Back in November, North
Carolina’s men’s basketball team had
every reason to struggle.
The Tar Heels were adjusting to life
without NBA lottery picks Vince
Carter and Antawn Jamison. Back-up
point guard Ronald Curry was still
throwing passes for the football team.
Forward Vasco Evtimov was still side
lined by an NCAA ruling.
But instead of struggling, they flour
ished. Veteran leaders Ed Cota and
Ademola Okulaja stepped up and car
ried the Tar Heels to victories against
nationally-ranked foes Purdue and
Stanford. UNC claimed the preseason
NIT title. Sophomore center Brendan
Haywood was dunking at will and the
team climbed all the way to No. 3 in
the polls.
It could only get better.
Fast forward to February. The Tar
Heels, now fully equipped, should be
clicking on all cylinders and revving
up for the Big Dance.
Instead of fine tuning, Coach Bill
Guthridge is still juggling his line-up.
The players are still trying to find their
roles. Just three games away from the
ACC Tournament, the team is headed
in the wrong direction.
Instead of getting better, UNC
seems to be getting worse.
Those victories against Purdue and
Stanford seem a long time ago.
Shocking losses at Georgia Tech and
Clemson stick out As does an alarm
ing 0-3 record against ACC heavy
weights Duke and Maryland.
Saturday’s loss to the Terps high
lighted the weaknesses that plague
these Tar Heels -a general lack of
quickness, lack of secondary ball han
dlers g.nd lack of a go-to scorer.
The athletic Terps flew to the ball,
swatting 14 Tar Heel shots away. They
trapped UNC from start to finish, and
the Tar Heels never managed to figure
it out.
Maryland forced Cota, UNC’s pri
mary ball handler, to give up the ball
and failed to let him get it back - leav
ing UNC’s offensive duties to Curry
and Max Owens.
The two combined for four points
on 2-of-10 shooting and four assists in
31 minutes of play.
And while Maryland turned to
Steve Francis for points at crucial
times, no Tar Heel stepped up to deliv
er in the second half.
Worse, the game was not an aberra
tion -but a continuation of poor play.
Three losses in five games, including a
horrendous showing in Clemson.
After two consecutive trips to the
Final Four, this March is looking like
less of a joy ride and more like a night
mare.
The Tar Heels have fallen to 12th in
the national polls and following
Saturday’s debacle will fall further. A
No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament
is looking less probable than a fourth
or fifth seed. UNC will most likely
begin the tourney in some far off
region like Washington or Wisconsin.
The Tar Heels just don’t look so
good when viewed through the NCAA
magnifying glass.
■ Quality wins - none since the
NIT.
■ Last 10 games - 6-4, with tough
games against N.C. State and Duke
remaining before the ACC
Tournament
■ Bad losses - Do California,
Clemson and Georgia Tech count?
With the selection show less than a
month away, UNC has little time to
right the sinking ship, little time to
revert back to its November form.
It has few opportunities to register
the type of wins that can carry a team
deep into the post-season. And few
ideas on how to fix what’s broken.
Brian Murphy can be reached at
bmurphy@email.unc.edu.
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UNC point guard Ed Cota tries to pass over the trapping limbs of Maryland's Lonny Baxter and Mike Mardesich.
The Terps defense held Cota to five points on 2-of-5 shooting in the Tar Heels' loss to Maryland on Sunday.
Terps Trounce Lackluster Tar Heels
By Dave Alexander
Senior Writer
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - By all
appearances, North Carolina is running
on a treadmill these days.
For every two steps forward, the Tar
Heels seem
ingly take two
steps back.
File
Saturday’s 81-
64 loss to No.
Maryland Swats
Break Down
UNC Offense
See Page 7
7 Maryland at Cole Field House under
the ‘Steps Back’ category.
“We played horrible,’’ said UNC for
ward Ademola Okulaja, who led the Tar
Heels with 15 points. “You can’t expect
to play the way we did and come out
with a ‘W on the road against a highly
UNC Nips Virginia at Home
With Late Overtime Surge
The Tar Heels outrebounded
the Cavaliers 52-41 for the
game, including a 5-2 edge
in the overtime period.
By M. Lee Taft
Senior Writer
For 39 minutes on Sunday, it looked
like Virginia would spoil the North
Carolina women’s basketball team’s
senior party.
But in the final minute of regulation,
UNC tied the
score at 70,
forcing an
overtime
before the No.
14 Tar Heels
Women’s
IWhetbal)
Virginia 80
UNC 82
beat No. 17 Virginia 82-80 in extra min
utes in front of a Senior Game crowd of
5,951 at Carmichael Auditorium.
In the final seconds of the game,
Virginia (17-7, 10-4 in the ACC) got
three looks at the basket but couldn’t get
a shot to fall for the win.
“We couldn’t have drawn the play
better,” UVa. coach Debbie Ryan said.
MARYLAND 81, UNC 64
\ jii
ranked team in the
ACC and in the
nation. It’s a horri
ble, nasty feeling.”
Just how bad
did the Tar Heels
play?
They converted
one field goal in
the final 8:57,
committed a sea
son-high 25
turnovers and
allowed an oppo
nent to shoot 50
percent or better
from the floor for
UNC forward
Ademola Okulaja
led the Tar Heels
with 15 points
in Saturday's loss
to the Terrapins.
only the third time this season.
Even more disheartening was the fact
that this undeniable dud dropped UNC
“We got exactly what we wanted. We
just didn’t finish.”
The Cavaliers gave the Tar Heels a
little bit of help, picking up two techni
cal fouls in the game. The most costly
came with 2:47 left in OT, when
Svedana Volnaya slammed the ball to
the floor after being called for traveling.
Jessica Gaspar hit the second techni
cal free throw, breaking a 76-76 tie. On
the next possession, LaQuanda
Barksdale followed a missed Nikki
Teasley 3-pointer to put UNC (24-5,11-
4) up three.
On the next possession, UVa. center
DeMya Walker hit a layup and was
fouled by UNC’s Natasha Davis. The
ensuing free throw tied the game at 78.
Walker hit a jumper in the lane with
1:20 left, putting the Cavs up by one.
But Teasley matched that shot with one
of her own to put UNC up for good.
The Tar Heels pulled down five
rebounds to UVa.’s two in the extra peri
od. UNC outrebounded UVa. 26-19 in
the second half, 52-41 for the game.
“I knew coming in that rebounding
would be the key to the game,” UNC
coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “If we could
control that, I knew we could win. We
(19-7, 7-5 in the ACC) two and a half
games behind second-place Maryland in
the league standings.
The lackluster effort also came less
than a week after a 98-64 UNC win
against Florida State, arguably the Tar
Heels’ most complete effort of the year.
“I can’t believe the way we played,”
UNC point guard Ed Cota said. “They
just manhandled us out there. This is
probably our worst game all year.”
It was the most lopsided win by
Maryland against UNC since 1975,
when the Terps defeated the Tar Heels
96-74 in Carmichael Auditorium. The
win capped a season sweep of UNC by
the Terrapins, only the second time an
ACC team has swept a season series
from North Carolina since 1993-94.
The decisive stretch came midway
didn’t in the first half.”
With her seniors on the floor in he
first half, Hatchell’s squad fell into a
hole. The Cavs jumped out to a 24-12
lead by the second media timeout. UNC
shot a just 11 for 31 from the field in the
half, while Uva. hit 19 of 35 of its shots.
At the half, UNC switched its defense
from its traditional man-to-man to an
uncharacteristic zone, trying to shut
down UVa.’s inside game. Virginia’s
Lesley Brown had torched the Tar Heels
for 14 first-half points.
“We couldn’t guard her,” Hatchell
said. “They were able to penetrate too
much in the first half. They could drive
in and dish off really easily.”
UNC started the second half with a
small offensive explosion, cutting a 12-
point deficit to five on three consecutive
possessions. The Tar Heels crashed the
boards, getting more opportunities for
second-chance points.
UNC slowly clawed its way back into
the game, making big defensive stands
to hold off the Cavs. Virginia hit only
two field goals in the last 6:08 of regula
tion, as UNC dominated the boards.
See WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, Page 7
UNC Men
Top Hofstra
In Lacrosse
UNC senior midfielder
Jeremy Carey (left)
scored three goals and
had three assists to lead
the Tar Heels to a 14-12
scrimmage win against
Hofstra. See Page 9.
if
through the second half, when
Maryland (22-4,10-3) used a 13 -4 run to
secure a 14-point lead with 6:50 to play.
At the offensive end, Terps’ guard
Steve Francis (22 points) scored on three
consecutive Maryland possessions dur
ing the run - once on a follow-up dunk,
once on a 3-pointer and once on a sec
ond-chance bucket in the paint.
On defense the fire was fueled by
Terrapin center Lonny Baxter, who
made his third consecutive start in place
of senior Obinna Ekezie, who was lost
for the season when he tore his Achilles
tendon in practice last week.
Baxter collected three blocks during
a string of five Tar Heel possessions in
which UNC scored only once. Baxter
See MEN'S BASKETBALL, Page 7
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DTH/SEAN RUSHER
UNC senior Natasha Davis shoots over Virginia's DeMya Walker during
the Tar Heels' win against the Cavaliers at Carmichael Auditorium.
INSIDE:
■ Tennis loses first
match of the season.
Page 9
■ Gamble leaps to
personal best. Page 9
■ Baseball wins three
in weekend tourney.
Page 9
UNC Soccer
Commits
Violation
Megan Parker signed a
national letter of intent to
play for UNC but never
received any financial aid.
Associated Press
The North Carolina women’s soccer
program and coach Anson Dorrance
could face sanctions after a recruit
signed a national letter of intent even
though she did not receive a scholarship.
UNC Athletics Director Dick
Baddour says freshman walk-on Megan
Parker signed the contractual agreement
last year that bound her to attend the
school but also required the school to
help pay her way. But Parker received
no financial aid.
Recruiting rules
prohibit walk-ons
from signing let
ters of intent,
Baddour told The
News & Observer
of Raleigh.
“We should not
have sent her a
national letter of
intent unless we
were going to
offer her a schol
arship,” said
Baddour, who
called the viola
tion the first of its
North Carolina coach
Anson Dorrance
is facing his second
major off-the-field
problem in the
past six months.
kind in his nearly 13-year career in the
athletics department. “Those two things
go hand-in-hand.”
After arriving at UNC last summer,
Parker was injured and was cut from the
team. Baddour learned of what hap
pened only when Parker sought a trans
fer to another school.
Baddour, citing personnel privacy
laws, declined to discuss any possible
disciplinary actions UNC might take
involving Dorrance. North Carolina
also reported the case to the ACC.
The program could face penalties
from the ACC or the Collegiate
Commissioners Association, the organi
zation that oversees the national letters
of intent.
“In my view ... this would be classi
fied a secondary violation,” Baddour
said. “When you have a large program
with a lot of student-athletes and you
have a multitude of rules, you occasion
ally run into these sort of problems.”
Dorrance did not return telephone
calls seeking comment.
In a civil lawsuit filed six months ago,
former Tar Heel players Debbie Keller
and Melissajennings accused Dorrance
of making lewd comments about team
members, questioning them about their
sex lives and twice making sexual
advances to Keller.
The lawsuit awaits trial in federal
court in Chicago.
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