Covering Carolina sports beyond just men's basketball and football — with the most complete women's basketball coverage
CHAPEL HILL — A game that started perfectly for Carolina pitching turned into a perfectly frustrating mix of missed opportunities, poor defense and not enough good relief pitching. A No. 15 UNC team that is usually solid on defense — although making some nice plays — tied a season-high with four errors. The slugging Tar Heels, who have 49 home runs in 23 games, failed to go deep for only the fourth time this season.
RJ Davis, as expected, announced on social media on Friday morning that he is returning for his senior season at North Carolina. “Tar Heel for life,” he wrote on Twitter in announcing his decision.
CHAPEL HILL — Carolina has such an explosive offense that the Tar Heels don’t have to worry much when they fall behind early. They again showed why Thursday, erasing an early three-run deficit before surging to a 6–3 win over Duke in the opener of a three-game weekend series at Boshamer Stadium for their sixth consecutive victory.
For the second consecutive day, a North Carolina women’s player entered the transfer portal, this time two-year starter Kennedy Todd-Williams. Todd Williams announced her decision Thursday in a social media post, leaving the Tar Heels with three returning starters in rising seniors Deja Kelly, Alyssa Ustby and Anya Poole.
Forward Destiny Adams made big strides from her freshman to sophomore seasons at North Carolina, but announced on social media Wednesday night that she is entering the transfer portal.
Armando Bacot is coming back to Carolina for a fifth season. “The primary reason I am coming back is because I don’t want to leave North Carolina this way. But I also know I need to improve and feel like this is the best place to do that,” Bacot told Goodman after the Tar Heels finished 20–13 and missed the NCAA tournament. “I’m using my last year of eligibility.” Bacot said. “I felt it was the right decision for my future.”
After battling injuries during most of his three seasons at Carolina, Puff Johnson is entering the transfer portal, according to On3.com. He is the fourth UNC player to enter the portal, joining Justin McKoy, Tyler Nickel and Dontrez Styles.
The Brooklyn Nets haven’t given Day’Ron Sharpe many chances to show what he can bring to the team in recent weeks. He took advantage of a chance Tuesday night. After playing only two of the previous nine games, Sharpe came off the bench to lead the Nets in scoring and was a game-high +27 in their 115–109 home loss Tuesday to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Brooklyn’s fourth consecutive loss.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Courtney Banghart got the North Carolina job, her first recruiting calls were to the members of the talented junior class that have put the Tar Heels program back in the national spotlight. The core of that group — guard Deja Kelly, wing Kennedy Todd-Williams, forward Alyssa Ustby and center Anya Poole — fell short of its lofty goals with a heartbreaking 71–69 loss to Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Monday afternoon.
COLUMBUS, Ohio —With two of the toughest defensive teams in the country who also have had consistency issues in a few stretches, it’s difficult to know what to expect when No. 20-ranked North Carolina and No. 12-ranked Ohio State battle for a Sweet 16 berth on Monday. The No. 3-seed Buckeyes (26–7) lost three in a row and went 7–7 their first 19 games. The No. 6-seed Tar Heels (22–10) dropped four straight in late December and early January, and lost three of four in February. The latter stretch, though, was without starters Alyssa Ustby and Eva Hodgson.
tarheeltribune.com 