PAGE 12
SCOREBOARD
NOT EVEN CLOSE
Ailing Tar Heels blow
out hapless Hokies
BY NICOLE LUKOSIUS
SENIOR WRITER
Virginia Tech might have thought it was
going to encounter a battered and bruised No.
5 North Carolina squad.
And while this might have been true, it cer
tainly did not show —as evidenced by the Tar
Heels’ 92-53 victory Saturday afternoon at the
Smith Center.
"We had some really good things happen for
us: we were more aggressive
defensively," UNC coach Roy
BaSKEIBALL Williams said.
Vo Tech 53 "It was probably our best
UNC 92 S anu ' °f the year in our half
court defense, and it was
probably our best game of the year in our half
court offense."
But before the game there were a lot of ques
tions surrounding which Tar Heels actually
would be in the lineup to face the Hokies (14-
11.5-t> ACC), due to an in jury report that keeps
on growing.
Forward Tyler Hansbrough had his toenail
removed, sixth man Danny Green had battled
the llu toward the end of the week, and junior
Marcus Ginyard has been slowed by a right
ankle sprain and turf toe on his left foot.
If that wasn't enough. Deon Thompson was
looking at limited playing time due to a hyper
extended left knee, and floor leader Quentin
Thomas was hampered by back spasms.
“Deon was hurting, but he gave us nine min
utes in the first half, and it was good,” Williams
said. “And Danny was under the weather to
say the least —but yet he was able to give us 21
minutes."
Despite these setbacks. North Carolina (24-2.
9-2) still got the job done in a very impres
sive manner.
Shooting 50 percent from the floor. UNC had
five different players score in double figures,
led by 23 from Hansbrough. Alex Stepheson
also had a solid performance, posting 11 points,
nine rebounds and two blocked shots coming
oft'the bench.
“It feels good." Stepheson said. “Coach gave
me the nod. so it feels good to go out there and
contribute and do what I can."
Stepheson converted on a fast break dunk
on a pass from sophomore guard Wayne
Ellington that got the Smith Center fans out
of their seats and put the Tar Heels up by 39
SEE ROUT, PAGE 11
Strong first half leads
to second weekend win
Women remain
unbeaten in ACC
BY DAVID ELY
SPORTS EDITOR
Friday night at Virginia, North
Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell
chided her team for its lack of first
half intensity. Less than 48 hours
later, UNC had no such early game
issues.
Against Florida State, the UNC
women's basketball team sprinted
to an early double-digit lead en
route to a 97-77 win Sunday after
noon at Carmichael Auditorium.
The Tar Heels (24-2, 11-0
ACC) found
open shooters
and crashed
the boards on
offense. They
shut down
WOMEN'S
BASKETBALL
Florida State 77
UNC 97
Seminole passing lanes and
pressured the ball on defense.
Apparently, Hatchell had made
her point.
“We always come into games
trying to fix things that we proba
bly did wrong in the game before,"
UNC junior Rashanda McCants
said. “The Virginia game we were
kind of sloppy, and so we wanted
to kinda clean it up this game.’
For the first 20 minutes, unlike
in previous victories, the Tar Heels
did not follow their typical Erlana
Larkins-LaToya Pringle blueprint
for success. A sagging Seminole
zone shut off the majority of UNC’s
post game and held Larkins and
Pringle to only five first-half looks.
“We weren’t getting the ball
inside as much as I wanted us too.’
Hatchell said. 'At halftime Erlana
was 4-for-4 she needs more
touches than that."
With limited production from
its star forwards, UNC was forced
to find alternative means to get
baskets.
So the Tar Heels leaned heav
ily on the aggressive play from
Sports Monday
MEN'S TENNIS UNC 5 Notre Dame 0
emm mMSm f 4
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, V' \ , V' I ,'
DTH/DAVID ENARSON
North Carolina sophomore forward Alex Stepheson slams home two of his 11 points in the Tar Heels' decisive 92-53 win against the
Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday. Stepheson had a game-high nine rebounds, six of which came off the offensive end of the floor.
'VIk Vy hB
gft . ,r
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DTH/MEIANIE HAYWOOD
North Carolina junior Rashanda McCants shoots a fadeaway jumper over
a Florida State defender. McCants scored 18 points, tied for the team high.
McCants and players normally
relegated to a supporting role.
Reluctant to shoot from the out
side, McCants sliced her way into
the lane for floaters, layups and
putbacks. McCants scored 10 of
her 18 points tied with Larkins
for the team lead in a first half
that also saw her attack the glass to
the tune of seven rebounds.
Rounding out the balanced
North Carolina attack were
freshmen Cetera DeGraffenreid,
Rebecca Gray and Italee Lucas
and sophomore Jessica Breland,
who combined for 46 points, 22 in
www.daliytarheel.com
the first period.
The second half saw more of the
same as UNC continued to pour it
on and play with intensity, even
if the scoreboard didn't suggest a
Seminole comeback was possible.
“We’re just trying to work on
our execution ... when we’re up
that far," Larkins said of the team's
second-half mentality. “And also
trying to keep coach Hatchell off
our backs because she likes to say
intensity for 40 minutes.’
Byproducts of UNC’s tenacity
SEE ACC WIN. PAGE 11
SOFTBALL UNC 0 Florida 1
UNC cruises to
victory in opener
BY POWELL LATIMER
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
The No. 10 North Carolina
men’s lacrosse team had some seri
ous first-game jitters for about
one quarter.
UNC opened its season Saturday
against the Bellarmine Knights at
Fetzer Field, and after 15 minutes
of play, the flat-footed Tar Heels
trailed 2-1.
“Everyone
was kind of
rushing, trying
to score a mil
lion goals in
the first couple
MEN'S
LACROSSE
Bellarmine 2
UNC 15
of minutes," junior attacker Bart
W r agner said. “Sometimes you
gotta realize that games are 60
minutes long."
Apparently, UNC came to that
realization just after the start of
SEE LACROSSE, PAGE 11
Gators take doubles
point, bite Tar Heels
BY DAVID REYNOLDS
STAFF WRITER
The North Carolina women’s
tennis team didn't have enough
to pull out another win against a
highly ranked squad.
Facing its fourth top-10 oppo
nent in a row, UNC (6-3) fell deci
sively to No. 6 Florida 6-1 Sunday..
The No. 5
Tar Heels were
outmatched at
nearly every
position, with
its only win
WOMEN'S
TENNIS
Florida 6
UNC 1
coming from sophomore Sanaz
Maraud at No. 2 singles.
“Anything bad today that could
have happened, happened,’ UNC
coach Brian Kalbas said.
“I thought our energy level
wasn't there. We were waiting for
things good to happen instead of
MEN'S TENNIS UNC 4 Baylor 3
■■mEFiSi
DTH/NICOIAS GUILETT
North Carolina junior Jack Ryan
defends his BeHarmine opponent
in UNC's 15-2 victory against the
Knights. The Tar Heels are 1 -0.
making things happen."
Florida (4-1) seized the momen
tum by taking the doubles point and
never looked back, taking the first
four singles points before Marand
put the Thr Heels on the board.
Kalbas said the loss of the
doubles point and an injury to
freshman Jelena Durisic were
the match's turning points. He
said that the doubles point loss
deflated the team members’
attitudes and that Durisic had
a good chance of winning her
singles match if not for injury.
The Torrance, Calif.-native
appeared to hurt her knee during
the first set of her match, and she
limped off the court after being
unable to continue.
Kalbas said that she is schcd-
SEE TENNIS, PAGE 11
ahr Daily (Ear Hrrl
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2008
SPORTS
SOFTBALL
W b| Jml
DTH FILE/SARAH RIA/ATI
FROM WIRE REPORTS
GAINESVILLE, Fla. North
Carolina's battle against No, 10
Florida lived up to its billing Sunday
as the Tar Heels and Gators battled
for eight full innings before either
team scored. Florida was able to
push across a run as it claimed the
1 0 decision in nine innings against
North Carolina.
UNC's Lisa Norris was dominant
once again, striking out eight and
allowing the lone unearned run,
while setting down 16 consecutive
batters at one point in the game.
MEN'S TENNIS
DTH FIIE/ERIN SMITH
SEATTLE The nationally 13th
ranked and 12th seeded North
Carolina Tar Heels capped off an
impressive showing Sunday at the
ITA National Men’s Team Indoor
Championships with a big win
against the nation's No. 9 team,
Notre Dame.
The shutout victory marks the sec
ond win in a row for the Tar Heels
against a top-10 opponent and gave
UNC a 2-1 mark for the tournament.
On Saturday, UNC won the dou
bles point and eventually upset No.
4 Baylor by a score of 4-3.
BASEBALL
North Carolina sophomore
Dustin Ackley is among the col
lege baseball standouts to earn a
spot on the watch list for the 2008
Golden Spikes Award, USA Baseball
announced Friday.
The Walnut Cove, N.C.-native hit
.402 last year with 10 home runs and
74 RBI in 73 games.
ONLINE
The women's basketball team beat
Florida State but sustained two more
injuries. See dailytarheel.com for story.
The women's lacrosse team won
both of its weekend games to open the
season. See dailytarheel.com for story.
UNC's Patience Coleman improved
upon her provisional high jump mark.
See dailytarheel.com for story.
THIS WEEK
WE9HESBIY
MEN'S BASKETBALL
at RCState
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Raleigh
SOFTBALL
vs. Campbell
TIME: 3 p.m. and 5 pjn.
LOCATION: Anderson Stadium
SWIMMING 6 DIVING
ACC Women’s Championships
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Atlanta
TITOXSDIir
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
at Miami
TWE^pm.
LOCATION. Coral Gables. Fla.
ACC Women’s Championships
TIME: 11 a.m.
LOCATION: Atlanta