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After two non-conference victories last week, North Carolina fell one spot for the second consecutive week, and are No. 18 in the latest AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll. Kansas State (4–0) leapfrogged UNC, going from unranked to No. 16 after winning 65–58 at Iowa (4–1), which fell two spots to No. 5.
Ty Chandler had a career game in the spotlight of Sunday Night Football, but his Minnesota Vikings couldn’t stop Javonte Williams’ red-hot Denver Broncos. Sam Howell threw three interceptions in a Washington loss on a week that many UNC alums were either inactive or were on open dates.
Dontrez Styles continued his productive weekend for Georgetown on Sunday, when Tyler Nickel had his best game since joining Virginia Tech and Caleb Love had a good all-around game in another romp for No. 4 Arizona.
CHAPEL HILL — For the 11th time in North Carolina program history and the second year in a row, the Tar Heels are NCAA field hockey national champions. In UNC’s first season under 23-year-old head coach Erin Matson, sophomore forward Ryleigh Heck buried a stroke in the sixth round to propel UNC to win the shootout 3–2 and the game 2–1 over Northwestern, after 80 minutes and two overtimes, before a standing-room-only crowd at Karen Shelton Stadium.
For over 40 years, weird things have happened when Clemson and North Carolina play football. The first half on Saturday in Death Valley took the weirdness and bad karma up a notch.
CLEMSON, S.C. — After North Carolina fumbled away a potential 21-point early lead, the frustrations kept piling up for the Tar Heels despite solid early defense. Against a Clemson team playing far better than its record, the Tar Heels couldn’t afford mistakes, and Omarion Hampton — who had an otherwise productive day — fumbled twice in the first half to keep UNC from taking control.
CHAPEL HILL — It doesn’t have to be perfect for the No. 17 North Carolina’s women’s basketball team for it to be valuable. That was the case with Saturday afternoon’s 68–39 victory against visiting Elon at Carmichael Arena.
It’s going very well so far at Georgetown for Dontrez Styles. The junior wing scored a career-high 26 points and three 3-pointers with eight rebounds, four assists (including two alley-oop passes) and two blocks Saturday afternoon as the host Hoyas beat Mount St. Mary’s 83–72.
Leaky Black had trouble getting playing time with the Charlotte Hornets, but when given a chance in the G League for the Greensboro Swarm on Friday night, he took advantage of the opportunity. Black flirted with a triple-double off the bench with 12 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and two steals.
Caleb Love sank four huge free throws in the win at Duke and has had other big moments, but hadn’t asserted himself offensively as an Arizona Wildcat until Friday night.
CHAPEL HILL — Watch and listen to postgame comments from Coach Hubert Davis and players Armando Bacot and Seth Trimble talk about No. 20 North Carolina’s victory Friday over UC Riverside.
CHAPEL HILL — How deep will Coach Hubert Davis go into his bench this season? He may have provided a hint on Friday night. In No. 20 North Carolina’s 77–52 home victory full of crowd-pleasing highlights Friday at the Smith Center over UC Riverside, only six players played more than 15 minutes — the five starters and freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau — before multiple late substitutions.
By R.L. Bynum North Carolina and Alabama both advanced to the Women’s College Cup last season, but only the Tar…
CHAPEL HILL — Before heading to Florida and tougher competition at the Gulf Coast Showcase next week, No. 17 North Carolina plays one more tuneup as the banged-up Tar Heels try to get closer to full strength. The Tar Heels (3–0) welcome Elon at 3 p.m. Saturday (ESPN3), which is off to a 1–2 start and lost at No. 14 N.C. State at 90–35 on Wednesday.
In Erin Matson’s first season as the youngest Division I head coach in any sport, North Carolina is one win away from its 11th NCAA title and the Tar Heels’ second in a row. The No. 1 Tar Heels advanced with a 2–0 victory over No. 5-ranked Virginia in the NCAA tournament semifinals at Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill after the teams split a pair of earlier meetings.
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