Covering Carolina sports beyond just men's basketball and football — with the most complete women's basketball coverage
It doesn’t seem to matter who the red-hot Carolina baseball team faces, the Tar Heels are going to take care of business. And they’re doing it convincingly and got one of the best pitching performances by a Tar Heel in recent memory on Friday. Against Virginia Tech, the No. 2-ranked team in the country, UNC poured on the offense early with four home runs in the first four innings and rolled to a 10–0 Friday win in Charlotte to earn a trip to the ACC Tournament semifinals.
Put this one in the Carolina sports history books alongside the 1974 men’s basketball rally from eight points down with 17 seconds left against Duke. In one of the most amazing comebacks in UNC sports history, the unbeaten No. 1-ranked and No. 1-seed Tar Heels erased an eight-goal third-quarter deficit to take an incredible 15–14 victory over No. 4-seed Northwestern in the NCAA women’s lacrosse national semifinals Friday at Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field in Baltimore.
For the first time in three offseasons, Coach Courtney Banghart won’t bring in any transfers at a time when hundreds of players are switching schools. With her Carolina women’s basketball team projected by ESPN to be in the top 10 next season, the Tar Heels have all the talent they need after last season’s Sweet 16 run.
Fans worried about sweltering in the August heat during Carolina’s football opener against Florida A&M will at least get some relief. The Tar Heels’ season-opening game will start at 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27 and air on ACC Network.
he similarities to last season continue for a Carolina women’s lacrosse team that’s ready to flip the script. Just like last season, the Tar Heels beat Stony Brook to enter the Final Four undefeated, No. 1-ranked and No. 1 seeded, taking a 20-game unbeaten streak into a national semifinal against a team they defeated handily at home. In both cases, that earlier win was on March 6. A year ago, Boston College, which UNC blew out 21–9 in March, ousted the Tar Heels 11–10 in the semifinals on its way to a national championship. A year later, to the day, of that early-season win over BC, Carolina rolled over Northwestern by a similar score of 20–9.
If you’ve watched Carolina’s baseball team emerge from weeks of struggles to finish the regular season with three consecutive ACC series wins and thought that its season trajectory reminds you of the Tar Heels’ men’s basketball team, you aren’t the only one. For Coach Hubert Davis’ basketball team, the low points were the back-to-back road losses to Miami and Wake Forest and the stunning home loss to Pittsburgh. For Coach Scott Forbes’ baseball team, it was losing five consecutive league series before the exam break. They’ve both noticed the similarities. Both rebounded after dealing with early-season criticism of them and their players.
CHAPEL HILL — The expectations are suddenly rocketing up for a Carolina baseball team that is putting it all together at the right time. From Angel Zarate’s first-pitch home run in the first inning, the Tar Heels were in command, combining timely hitting, productive outs, solid defense and good pitching to earn an 11–0 senior-day victory Saturday over Florida State at Boshamer Stadium for their first ACC shutout of the season.
CHAPEL HILL — Carolina fans will forever remember Caleb Love’s huge 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in Carolina’s Final Four victory over Duke at the Superdome in New Orleans, and now it’s immortalized in the Carolina Basketball Museum. On the half-court in the main part of the museum, there are markers for the biggest shots in program history. Logically, one was added for Love’s 3-pointer over the outstretched left hand of Blue Devils center Mark Williams. That shot was massive as he scored 28 points in beating Duke 81–77 to end Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s career with a loss.
CHAPEL HILL — If you are going to battle North Carolina’s baseball team, it’s best to do it before the exam break. The Tar Heels, for the second straight season, have gone from a team unlikely to make the NCAA tournament field before exams to earning high marks with the selection committee. After losing five consecutive ACC series before the break, the Tar Heels defeated Florida State 10–4 on Friday night to clinch their third successive league series and put them in a good position for a postseason berth.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina is back in the women’s lacrosse Final Four but, for the second consecutive season, Stony Brook and its vexing zone defense didn’t make it easy. Just like in last year’s quarterfinals, the undefeated, No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Tar Heels (20–0) had to rally against the Seawolves to keep their season alive. UNC rebounded from the lowest-scoring half of the season (three first-half goals) and used a four-goal second-half run to advance Thursday at Dorrance Field. The Tar Heels’ 8–5 NCAA tournament quarterfinal victory over the No. 7-ranked Seawolves (16–3) was their 33rd consecutive home win.
The latest sign that expectations for Carolina’s men’s basketball season are going to be sky-high is ESPN’s bracket projection for next season.
Such projections in May are, of course, ridiculous, but Joe Lunardi sees the Tar Heels as the No. 1 seed in the East. Under that scenario, UNC would play in Greensboro for the first two rounds and at Madison Square Garden in New York for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina women’s lacrosse stars have been here before — undefeated, top-ranked, No. 1 seed and in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. The Tar Heels (18–0) are in the same situation as a year ago, facing Stony Brook at Dorrance Field with a Final Four berth on the line. But five-time All-America attacker Jamie Ortega says that they are in a different place as they prepare to play the No. 8-ranked Seawolves (16–2) at 7:30 Thursday night (ESPNU).
CHAPEL HILL — What does domination look like? That was on display as North Carolina’s top-ranked and No. 1-seed women’s lacrosse team overwhelmed No. 15-ranked Virginia in the second round of the NCAA tournament. After falling behind in their last two ACC Tournament games, the unbeaten Tar Heels, who got a first-round bye, took charge early Sunday and left little doubt. Carolina scored the game’s first 13 goals and the last 11, dominating draws early in a 24–2 victory at Dorrance Field behind senior attacker Jamie Ortega’s four goals and five assists. That was the most goals in an NCAA tournament game in program history.
North Carolina’s pursuit of the program’s third women’s lacrosse national title begins Sunday with a hungry team intent on getting past the national semifinals. The No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Tar Heels, the only undefeated team in the country at 18–0, play at Dorrance Field on Sunday at noon (ESPN+) against the winner of Friday’s 5 p.m. first-round game in Chapel Hill between Virginia (9–9) and Southern Cal (13–4). UNC beat the Cavaliers 17–7 on the road on April 14.
Brady Manek, who was a big reason that North Carolina made a run to the Final Four, is one of 44 NBA Draft prospects who will attend the NBA G League Elite Camp on May 16 and 17 in Chicago. Manek, a 6–0, 230-pound forward, will get the chance to show off his skills in front of NBA and G League scouts, coaches and front-office executives through five-on-five games and strength and agility drills.
tarheeltribune.com 