Study breaks come in many different forms. For the players at No. 20 North Carolina, who are in the midst of first semester final exams, it means a basketball game today at the Smith Center against East Tennessee State (7:30 p.m., ESPN3).
There was talk Thursday in Carmichael Arena during a gathering to salute North Carolina winning its 22nd national women’s soccer title about how this crown had the best fit of them all. UNC coach Anson Dorrance would tell you he didn’t see this one coming. Before the season started, Dorrance wasn’t sure UNC would make it into the NCAA tournament.
North Carolina experienced its first trip through the coaching rumor mill under Larry Fedora, and its head coach is still in place. Fedora was named as a finalist for the Tennessee job by Internet sites in Knoxville on Tuesday, but a source close to the UNC program said Thursday that Fedora never interviewed and is not interested in the position.
North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham acknowledges that coaching speculation “can be detrimental to an athletic program.” Still, he won’t be taking any steps to end the speculation involving UNC football coach Larry Fedora.
North Carolina has struggled with turnovers this season — and that was with senior point guard Tierra Ruffin-Pratt in the lineup.
The National Football Foundation awards diner and banquet is an annual black-tie event that draws the nation’s college football coaches and athletic directors to New York City.
Remarkably resilient North Carolina returned to the mountaintop for the first time since 2009 Sunday, downing Penn State 4-1 to win its 21st NCAA women’s soccer championship. The No. 13-ranked Tar Heels (15-5-3), the lowest-ranked team in the College Cup’s Final Four, had stumbled through their regular season with five losses. If there was a year North Carolina could be had, this was it, some thought, incorrectly as it turned out.
This game marked the first time Tennessee had reached the 100-point mark against a ranked opponent since a 102-68 rout of No. 15 DePaul on Jan. 2, 2008.
North Carolina’s offense proved explosive as its game with Alabama-Birmingham progressed Saturday night. The Tar Heels’ defense? Well, it caused a different kind of explosion.
Crystal Dunn delivered a perfect pass to Kealia Ohai, who drove home a game-winning goal. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Longtime friends Chelsea Gray and Afure Jemerigbe meet on the basketball court today, which is fitting.
North Carolina coach Roy Williams will be slightly conflicted when the Tar Heels face Alabama-Birmingham today at the Smith Center (6 p.m., ESPNU).
Ninth-seeded North Carolina fell to No. 16 seed Indiana 1-0 in Friday night’s quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament at Fetzer Field, meaning the Tar Heels will not reach the College Cup for the first time since 2007.
