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Sports Monday RACHEL CARTER THROWS LIKE A GIRL Sad Ending For UNC's Barksdale Sitting several chairs apart in the North Carolina locker room at the Greensboro Coliseum, Juana Brown and LaQuanda Barksdale seemed to be in different worlds. Barksdale wiped tears from her eyes, while Brown kept a smile firmly planted on her face. For both, it was likely their last game in a North Carolina uniform. The Tar Heels dropped their quarterfi nal game of the ACC tournament to Clemson and a NCAA bid will proba bly not be forthcoming. It’s been a hard road for Barksdale and her teammates, who finished the season at 15-14 overall and 7-9 in the ACC. The season began with a big ques tion mark about how the Tar Heels would react without Nikki Teasley run ning the point, and the record would indicate that they didn’t react well. But that wouldn’t be fair, and it wouldn’t be true. Seven games were decided by a margin of three points or less - the Tar Heels came out on the losing side five of those times. They went into over time four times, dropping two of those games. If more of those games had swung a different way, the Tar Heels might have had a higher seed and could still be playing in the tournament. Watching the Tar Heels this year, it’s clear the problem isn’t that Teasley’s not there. Coretta Brown has done a fine job and has really proved herself as UNC’s floor general. Youth could be a scapegoat, except the youth really stepped up. Six-foot-6 center Candace Sutton looked lost in the paint early in the season but now is posting up with confidence. Freshman forward Chrystal Baptist has really helped the Tar Heels off the bench, too. It’s difficult to figure out exacdy what went wrong for the Tar Heels this year. On Saturday, the problem was a terrible start, especially for Barksdale. She missed her first five attempts of the game, and she turned the ball over once and grabbed one rebound during that stretch. It took the ACC scoring leader 7 minutes, 53 seconds to get her first basket. At the end of the half, Barksdale was 2-of-ll from the field. She picked up her game in the sec ond half, shooting 5-of-8 and sinking two 3s. But it wasn’t enough. It’s a sad end for the Tar Heels’ most talented player. On Friday against Georgia Tech, Barksdale came up big for her team. She started the game with an exclama tion point: a 3-pointer 45 seconds into the contest. She rolled the rest of the way, scor ing 25 points, just one off her ACC tournament career high. After Friday’s game, she told the media that the Tar Heels’ backs were against the wall. Sunday, she said she kr ’w that North Carolina hadn’t responded the way it needed to. “I felt like we had to win the tourna ment to get a bid,” Barksdale said with tears glistening in her eyes. “I’m trying to be positive. But it’s hard.” The women’s season could continue - they could receive a bid to the WNIT. But that wouldn’t be enough. Barksdale didn’t want to talk about the possibility of playing in the WNIT, but Brown said she had mixed emo tions about the team. Brown said it would probably be good for the younger Tar Heels to get more post season play. Even if the season goes on, it will be a disappointing one for Barksdale. “This is the best chemistry I’ve ever had in four years,” Barksdale said. “I really hate that we couldn’t win more.” Rachel Carter can be reached at racarter@email.unc.edu. Wrestling Falters, Takes 3rd Place in ACCs Bv Adam D. Hill Staff Writer In years past, all of the little things have gone right for North Carolina at the ACC tournament. This year, with the event being held in Chapel Hill, they didn’t. The Tar Heels lost three crucial semi final matches by a total of five points en route to a third-place overall finish behind N.C. State (78.5 points) and Virginia (73). UNC finished with 68 total points, while Maryland finished fourth with 52.5 points. Duke ended up a distant fifth with 34 points. The third-place finish is the Tar Heels’ lowest since 1989-90, when they were fourth in the ACC. UNC had won the tournament the past four years. “We’re not used to finishing in third place,” UNC coach Bill Lam said. “I don’t like.it, and we are not happy about it “It has been a tough year all around, and we’ve just had that kind of bad luck. Today there was no luck. We lost three matches in a matter of five seconds, and had we just won two of those matches, we would have won the tournament. The matches just took some bad turns.” Clemson Sends Tar Heels Packing ■ -<O, b„ v| ' ' y / I JK' 4 DTH/BRE NT CLARK UNC point guard Coretta Brown (left) drives against Clemson's Erin Batth. Brown finished the game with 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting. Rowing Squad Grabs Mixed Results vs. Duke Bv James Giza Assistant Sports Editor Joel Furtek’s voice emanated from a pair of two-foot high speakers, sitting on a wooden plank by the right door of the boathouse at University Lake. Using a cell phone for the first 10 races and a radio held up to a microphone for the last two, Furtek provided play-by play from a motor boat as his North Carolina women’s rowing team opened its spring season in the Carolina Dash against Duke on Saturday morning. Although the sound system experi enced technical difficulties at times, Furtek’s race-calling - interspersed with color commentary - made it easier for ■HRHHMGT ! $p- §(9 ""#A -X', : 'f,- f: _ . SHF DTH/ARIEL SHUMAKER North Carolina's John Mark Bentley (above) won his third ACC title and earned Most Outstanding Wrestler honors. Lucky or not, the Tar Heels did have three individual ACC Champions in Corey Bell (174 pounds), tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler John Mark Bentley (149), and Matt Kenny (Hwt.). the onlookers standing on the shore to keep up with the action. “It’s an exciting sport if you can fol low it,” said the fourth-year coach, who has been with the program since its inception, “but when you’re standing on the shore, they go by, and we just give you the times - oh, they won by 10 sec onds - what does that mean? “But to see them come by, to get a feel also for what’s happening in the race, I think is important.” The Tar Heels provided ample reasons for the team and its supporters to get excited even though no official score for the meet was kept. In the four-event for- See ROWING, Page 8 All three grapplers were familiar with the victory podium: Bell won his fourth consecutive title, a feat that only two See WRESTLING, Page 11 UNC's early exit from the ACC tournament will likely ruin any chances for the team to secure an NCAA bid. By Mike Ogle Senior Writer The North Carolina women’s bas ketball team had a big game Saturday at the Greensboro Coliseum. But the seventh-seeded Tar Heels didn’t play big in their 75-57 loss to second-seeded Clemson in a quarterfinal game of the ACC tourna ment. UNC Women’s Basketball UNC 57 Clemson 75 Georgia Tech 64 UNC 79 handled eighth-seeded Georgia Tech 79-64 on Friday in a first-round matchup. “They just pretty much manhandled us,” said UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell, whose team likely lost its last hope of an NCAA invite with the early exit. “When you get to tournament time, usually the team that’s most physical is the one that’s going to advance and move on.” Manhandle the Tigers did. Clemson outscored North Carolina 40-18 in the paint, outrebounded the Tar Heels 44-38, outdid them 15-8 on the offensive board and outscored them 15-6 in second-chance points. The Tigers (20-8) did such damage despite the fact that second-team All- ACC center Erin Batth played just 16 mihutes before fouling out with 7:40 remaining in the game. The 6-foot-4 senior hit one of seven shots from the field, scored three points and collected six rebounds before her early departure. No matter. Four of her teammates (Julie Aderhold, Nuria Foms, Marci Glenney and Krystal Scott) picked up at least six boards apiece. Terrapins Stop Tar Heels Bv Kelly Lusk Assistant Sports Editor COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland’s women’s lacrosse star Jen Adams doesn't usually cross her fingers before she takes a shot. That’s because most of the balls the two-time national player of the year fires at the net go in. But before Adams made Women’s Lacrosse [UNC 7 Maryland 8 UNC 15 Johns Hopkins .. .5 the game-winning shot in the top-ranked Terrapins 8-7 defeat of No. 4 North Carolina on Sunday at Ludwig Field, she held her breath for-a moment With 7:31 remaining in the second Gymnastics Snags Win In Last Meet Senior gymnast Brooke Wilson (left) broke her all-around record with a 39.500 score to help UNC secure a win in its last home meet. See Page 8. Bell Ends UNC Career With 4th ACC Title ! By Randy Wellington Staff Writer Do not ask for whom the Bell tolls; he tolls for North Carolina. Senior Corey Bell became the first wrestler from the state of North Carolina to win four ACC tides Saturday, ending a surprisingly illustri ous career with a 6-5 win against N.C. State’s Dustin Kawa in the 174-pound weight class. “This is a kid who was all but a walk on,” UNC coach Bill Lam said. “He came to school for books.” But he became a wresding star. After winning the ACC tide in the 184- pound weight class his freshman year in his hometown of Durham, Bell finished his career in Chapel Hill at 174 pounds, Glenney led the way offensive ly with her game high 18 points. Scott tallied 17 points and six assists, while Foms and Chrissy Floyd chipped in with 13 points each. “Erin Batth means so much to our team, and she was limited on her playing time today,” Clemson UNC senior Juana Brown shot 4-of-11 from the field and chipped in three assists in Saturday's loss. coach Jim Davis said. “I told her, and I told the team that that proves it’s a team game. “We were able to pick her up on a bad day.” UNC (15-14) couldn’t say the same about its center. Candace Sutton found a very similar fate as Batth’s. The 6-6 freshman was severely limited by foul trouble. She picked up her fourth foul with 15:51 left in the contest, limiting her to 17 minutes, seven points and four rebounds. Rr -’wfv r\mm a ' am * Jmt 'Ulsßp Tf mm DTH/BRENT CLARK UNC's bench of LaQuanda Barksdale, Jennifer Thomas, Joy Hairston and Chrystal Baptist (left to right) watches the final minutes of Saturday's game. half, Maryland attacker Allison Comito fed Adams a pass that flew high above her sdck. Adams leapt into the air, caught the ball, shot it past Tar Heel goalie Melissa Coyne and clinched the Maryland win. “It was a leap of faith on that one,” said Adams, who scored five times. “I was like, ‘Jump and pray. Just catch the ball and try to put it in.’ Nothing special.” Nothing special at all. Maryland struggled to rev up its offen sive engines without a goal from its most powerful offensive threat. UNC’s defense kept Adams quiet and held her scoreless for the first 14:10 of the first half. It wasn’t until the Tar Heels (2-1,0-1 in the ACC) built a three-goal lead fueled by midfielder Amy Havrilla that Adams woke up from her scoreless slumber. With 6:45 left in the first half, INSIDE: ■ Baseball earns split with Bruins. Page 11 ■ Adams, Blake lead Tar Heels. Page 11 ■ Men's lacrosse breaks away losing streak. Page 8 the third class at which he has won a title. “After I won my first one in Durham, everyone was like, ‘You’re going to be4 four-time ACC champion, rah rah rahiy Bell said. “But I wouldn’t wish this upon anybody. When you’re No. 1, every body gives 110 percent to beat you.” Kawa was one of those competitors, and he put Bell into a blind rage. Literally. With 15 seconds left in the first peri od and Bell leading 4-3, Kawa inadver tandy elbowed Bell in the eye, causing him to hop around violendy, covering the painful bruise. The injury forced Bell to change his strategy. “I couldn’t even see what he was See BELL, Page 11 But Sutton’s teammates didn’t pro vide the same relief that Batth’s did, par ticularly in the first half when Clemson gained a 35-22 advantage. Senior LaQuanda Barksdale, whose silky smooth touch led to 25 points Friday, went 2-for-l 1 in Saturday’s first half. It was a particularly ugly 2-for-11 that included a jumper that hit the glass and nothing else, a scoop shot rejected by the underside of the backboard, an air ball and two missed layups. She found her touch later to finish with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but the damage had been done. Juana Brown and Coretta Brown shot a combined 7-for-22 in the game for 12 and 11 points, respectively. Meanwhile, the Tigers, who lost to the Tar Heels by a point twice in the reg ular season, got their revenge on North Carolina in the postseason. “It was just something everybody had on their minds,” Floyd said. “Wanting to play Carolina again and show them that we’re a better team.” The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu. Maryland’s 6-foot-2 defender Tori Wellington slammed into Tar Heel mid fielder Christine McPike, who tem porarily left the game. Less than a minute after McKke’s exit, Adams, the Terrapins’ all-time leading scorer with 188 goals, racked up her first goal of the day. Moments later, she scored again, shrinking the Tar Heels’ lead to one. “Maryland is really gimmicky and tricky," North Carolina coach Jenny Slingluff Levy said. “They are really good with their sticks and you can’t allow anything on the inside.” Adams’ two goals helped the Terrapin offense find their rhythm. Comito tied the match with 3:11 remain' ing, and with six seconds left in the half, Adams scored on a breakaway to give See WOMEN'S LACROSSE, Page 11 14
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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