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Sports Monday Sweet 16 Turns Sour as Tar Heels Fall to Georgia By T. Noun Hayes Sports Editor PORTLAND, Ore. - The North Carolina women’s basketball team finds few things sweet about the Sweet 16. The reason? The Tar Heels histori cally have had loads of trouble getting out of it alive. They entered their West Regional semifinal against top seeded Georgia with a 2-6 record Women’s Basketball UNC 57 Georgia 83 all-time in the round of 16. The Tar Heels left Memorial Coliseum on Saturday night with that familiar sour taste in their mouths, losing 83-57 to the Lady Bulldogs. Georgia will play Rutgers, which defeated Alabama-Birmingham 60-45, in the regional final Monday night. The Lady Bulldogs have advanced to the Elite Eight in five of the past six years. “This game is like many of the games we’ve played this year,” said Georgia coach Andy Landers, who picked up the 600th victory of his career with the win. Tar Heels Run Away With Meets UNC sophomore Sal Gigante broke the school record in the men's hammer with a throw of 196 feet, 11 inches. Bv Bret Strelow Assistant Sports Editor Many members of the North Carolina men’s and women’s track and field teams felt the aches and pains that lingered from a rigorous week of practice. But UNC coach Dennis Craddock wasn’t sympathetic. He wanted to send a message to his team: Toughen up. “I try to get them to understand you have to work through some meets and be tired,” Craddock said. “Some of them understand that, and some don’t.” And despite an effort Saturday that Craddock was less than pleased with, the Tar Heel men and women were both victorious in UNC’s first outdoor home meet of the season, knocking off Akron, N.C. State and William & Mary. The men came awav with 219.5 points, while the women finished with 203.5. Sal Gigante got the Tar Heels off to a strong start. He set a school record in the ham mer with a hurl of 196 feet, 11 inch es, eclipsing Allen Bradd’s mark of 194-2 set in 1998. “I didn’t feel too great today,” Gigante said. “The throw, I knew it was pretty good. I UNC junior Ola Sesay won the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 8 inches on her second effort. didn’t know it was that good, though.” N.C. State took the next three events, but UNC got first- and second-place fin ishes in the next four events to snatch a 46-point lead against the Wolfpack. “I began to worry if we were going to be able to pull this thing out,” Craddock said. The women didn’t put such a scare into their coach. UNC dominated the first five events to jump out to 64 points while its competitors floundered in the 30s. Ola Sesay, who won the long jump with a mark of 20-8 on her second effort, said the Tar Heels are dangerous in every event they compete in. “Other teams are just strong in one event,” Sesay said. “But we’re an all around team." That may have been the case Saturday, but the Tar Heels will face some of the nation’s stiffest competition when part of the team heads to California to face 1/misiana State, Nebraska and Southern California on Saturday. Craddock said, “We had a really hard week of practice, but I do that on purpose because we’ve got some real big meets coming up that I want to be rested for.” The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu. “It’s what makes this team so special and so much fun to coach.” There was noth ing special or fun about the game for the Tar Heels, who have endured this agony before. UNC (20-13) saw its season end in the Sweet 16 at the hands of a No. 1 seed for the second consecutive season. Much like it did in its 82-58 postseason loss to Purdue last year, North Carolina dug itself a hole it could not escape. After playing the Lady Bulldogs to a 17-17 tie for the game’s first eight min utes, the Tar Heels went cold and allowed Georgia to blow the game open with a 22-6 run. “At the beginning of the game, I did n’t think we were playing well even though we were battling them about even for the first eight or 10 minutes,” UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “We didn’t start out playing our defense like I wanted us to, and we missed some easy shots.” Timely Hitting; Solid Pitching Push UNC Past State £* Wfk, f PPp* * ; .■■■■ .igMwIME' \..viSSMr / *>' ' X - '' /■/•.* DTH/GREG WOLF Tar Heel center fielder Adam Greenberg dives back to first base, thwarting an N.C. State pick-off attempt. The freshman collected two hits in UNC’s 4-1 win to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. His batting average has climbed to .419 on the season. Men's Tennis Runs Win Tar Heel tennis coach Sam Paul collected his 100th career win as UNC picked up its second victory against a top-25 team in 11 days, By Ted Keith Staff Writer Don’t call North Carolina’s 4-3 win against No. 23 Notre Dame at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on Saturday an upset. The players did not want to hear it, and UNC head coach Sam Paul, who secured his 100th career win in the process, definitely did not want to hear it. Men’s Tennis Notre Dame 3 UNC 4 “I thought it was a great college tennis match,” Paul said minutes after freshman Trystan Meniane secured the win with a 7-6, 7-6 victory against Notre Dame’s Andrew Ixiflin. “We’ve been working up to the level of the Texases, and we feel we’re getting there.” UNC extended its winning streak to seven The Lady Bulldogs (32-3) took advantage, dominating UNC with their shoot ing, offensive rebounding and transition play. Center Tawana McDonald led the way. McDonald, a 6-foot-4 sopho more, scored seven points dur ing Georgia’s run. She was big enough to hurt UNC junior Juana Brown scored 19 points and collected 10 boards in the Tar Heels’ loss in Portland, Ore. UNC on the offensive glass, getting fouled once and scoring once after rebounds, but quick enough to drive the lane for a layup to put the Lady Bulldogs up 29-23 with 1:11 to go in the half. Georgia’s post players gave the small er Tar Heels fits all night. McDonald fin ished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, and her reserve, Shala Crawford, added See WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, Page 9 and is now 10-2 overall, including 2-0 in the ACC. The win was North Carolina’s second against a top-25 team in eleven days. The Tar Heels knocked off then-No. 25 South Carolina 4-3 on March 14. “The team is just so together,” said UNC senior Assaf Drori, who defeated Casey Smith 6-4, 6-4. “We didn’t look at the matchups or the rankings. 1 think we can beat almost any team in the country now.” Drori controlled his opponent all afternoon, using a careful style of play to dictate the match and an almost unreturnable drop shot to keep Smith frustrated. “It’s really hard to play against a guy who is always attacking and going for tough shots,” Drori said of Smith. “But I think my game is perfect to play against him and break him down because I don’t take bad shots. I just wait for nty oppor tunity.” Drori’s victory became crucial after UNC dropped the doubles point and top-seeded senior Tripp Phillips lost in singles for the first time since the Tar Heels faced Purdue on Feb. 13. Phillips’ 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 defeat against Ryan Teasley, Barksdale Unable to Carry Offense By T. Nolan Hayes Sports Editor PORTLAND, Ore. - Nikki Teasley was like a child waiting for Christmas. Teasley, North Carolina’s point guard, had thought about Saturday night’s matchup with top-seeded Georgia for days and couldn’t wait to take the floor. But like the child who dreams of Christmas and then doesn’t get the one gift she truly desires, Teasley was left feeling empty after UNC’s 83-57 loss. She scored six points in the game, shooting 3-for-19 from the field and 0-for-8 from 3-point range. She handed out six assists but committed four turnovers in 39 minutes. “1 was just overly anxious to play this game,” said Teasley, who was 1 -for-11 in the second half. “I’ve been ready to play since Tuesday, the day after we beat Rice. “I’m not making excuses, but when you’re so ready to play and so hyped up, Streak to 7 Sachire left the outcome of the match in Meniane’s hands. Despite failing to close out three match points, Meniane kept his composure to win the second-set tiebreaker 8-6. “What a great job. He’s earned the right to be there in that situation, and he has really han dled pressure well,” Paul said. “1 just kept telling him to focus on moving his feet and to want the ball.” Sophomore Marcio Petrone also won 7-6, 7- 6, defeating Javier Taborga. Chad Riley beat Brian Farrell 6-4, 6-2 for UNC’s other singles victory. Drori and Petrone combined for UNC’s only doubles victory, a win against Smith and James Malhame of Notre Dame. The Tar Heels won their fourth match in nine days, a stretch that Paul said he had been concerned about. “We’ve been working real hard these last few days,” Paul said. “We still have adjustments to make from this match, but we just have to work harder and go from here.” The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu. UNC Upsets 3rd-Ranked Cavaliers UNC senior midfielder Meghann Mohler (left) had two goals during a 7-1 run to end the game as the Tar Heels beat No. 3 Virginia 12-5 on the road. See Page 11. | i i MM | illlllllfe. it tends to make you miss easy layups like I did and make turnovers that I don’t usually make.” Teasley missed two breakaway layups early when the Tar Heels were hanging tough with the Lady Bulldogs, but she wasn’t the only UNC star to come up short. Junior forward LaQuanda Barksdale matched teammate Nikki Teasley’s output with six points. Forward LaQuanda Barksdale, a first team All-ACC pick and the conference’s leading scorer and rebounder, con tributed just six points and six boards. She was 3-for-13 from the field. Barksdale had entered the contest ranked fifth in the NCAA tournament in scoring (25.0 points per game) and tied for By Will Kimmey Assistant Sports Editor Just 26 games into his first season at North Carolina, fresh man Sean Farrell has demonstrated a knack for getting the big hits at opportune times. It started back in February in UNC’s come-from-behind 17-13 win at then-No. 1 UCI A. Farrell smacked a two-run homer and doubled in two more in UNC’s 13-run ninth-inning rally. The slugger from Charlotte was at it again Sunday in the rubber game of UNC’s three-game set with N.C. State. Farrell played longball twice against Wolfpack starter Mike Prochaska, driving in three runs to help No. 6 North Carolina (24-5, 2-4 in the ACC) to a 4-1 victor)' at Boshamer Stadium. “That’s nothing new to Sean,” said pitcher Chris Elmore, who start ed for UNC. “He picked us up in California and several other games, and he’s just a pleasant surprise for this club.” Farrell’s first blast -a solo shot to left - came in the bottom of the fifth to answer State’s tally in the top of the inning and tie the game at 1-1. The first baseman’s second round tripper -a two-run job in the sev- enth that put the Tar Heels ahead to stay - almost didn’t hap pen. UNC coach Mike Fox gave Farrell the bunt signal in hopes on moving Chris Maples, who represented the go ahead run, to second. But the pitch was out of the strike zone. “I gave him the bunt sign, and this is the crazy thing about baseball: If Prochaska throws him a strike, he probably lays down a bunt,” Fox said. “I’m glad he didn’t throw him a strike.” Farrell worked the count full and then looked for something good to hit. “He was trying to paint his fastball to the outside comer and got a little too much of the plate,” Farrell said. “I made a good swing on it and tried to drive it that way.” Farrell’s output proved to be more than enough for the Tar Heel pitchers, who didn’t allow an earned run on the after noon. Elmore used his curveball and spotted his fastball to scatter nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out four and issued one walk. N.C. State (16-10,5-4) touched him for an unearned run in the fifth inning. Ryan Earey came on to help UNC out of a two-out jam in the sixth and yielded just one hit the rest of the way to improve to 3-0 on the year. The Tar Heels also received a strong effort on the mound in their 5-2 win Saturday. Senior Ryan Snare (5-1) hurled seven strong innings, holding Wolfpack batters to one run on six hits. See BASEBALL, Page 11 ; IP DTH/KATE MELLNIK Freshman Trystan Meniane clinched the Tar Heels' victory against Notre Dame with a 7-6, 7-6 win. INSIDE: ■ Men's lacrosse loses tight contest. Page 9 ■ Women's tennis splits ACC matches. Page 9 ■ Swimming ties for 28th. Page 11 third in rebounding (11.5). She went with out a point for the final 31:42 of the game. “Usually, Nikki and LaQuanda can carry us quite a bit,” UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “But when they both have six points, we’re not going to beat many people. “We needed better scoring from the two who usually carry us.” UNC would have also benefited from some better decision making, especial ly from Barksdale. Barksdale had one foul in the first half but ended up fouling out with 8:33 remaining. Showing the frustration of her teanl’s plight and her inability to score, Barksdale got three fouls in a 2:43 span early in the second half. UNC had no way of making up its double-digit deficit, not with Teasley mis firing and Barksdale sitting on the bench. “We were able to make our foul shots and get them in foul trouble,” said See OFFENSE, Page 9 Baseball 1 j N.C. State I UNC 4 N.C. State 2 UNC 5 N.C. State 14 UNC II 14
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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