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The Daily Tar Heel

North Carolina women's basketball falls in Sweet 16 to South Carolina

The UNC women’s basketball team lost 67-65 to South Carolina in the Sweet 16 in Greensboro Friday. Stephanie Mavunga (1) led the Tar Heels with 13 rebounds.

The UNC women’s basketball team lost 67-65 to South Carolina in the Sweet 16 in Greensboro Friday. Stephanie Mavunga (1) led the Tar Heels with 13 rebounds.

The scene was a conundrum of sorts, considering the absence of utter heartbreak and pin-drop silence one would anticipate after a season-ending defeat and denied upset bid over a top-seeded adversary.

There were teammates yelling back and forth out of anger, while others goofily danced. There were Tar Heels devoured by the final minutes of the loss hiding in the shower area, and others flaunting welcoming smiles as reporters waltzed in. There were tears, and there was laughter.

But above all else, there was a search for meaning — a thorough examination of the previous four months’ work resulting in defeat.

“It’s motivation. We don’t ever want to feel like this again,” said freshman guard Jamie Cherry, whose last-second heave ricocheted off the backboard as time expired. “Going into next year, we’ve got to have the same mindset. We’ll be fully ready.”

Some won’t be permitted the opportunity to sweat and toil through months of preparation in order to quash the ailments of Friday’s collapse, accounting for much of the regret present in the locker room.

Senior guard Brittany Rountree, as well as three other seniors, witnessed her UNC career come to an abrupt conclusion after the Tar Heels blew a three-point lead with 1:01 remaining in the second half.

She’ll always remember the final moments of her career, as SEC Player of the Year Tiffany Mitchell drove the heralded defender to the basket and scored with 4.2 seconds left. Cherry’s Hail Mary, with a few seconds still left on the clock to advance the ball, will forever be etched in her memory.

“I was pretty pissed. Something that I won’t forget,” said Rountree before changing directions and looking at the game through an optimistic lens.

“But South Carolina is a great team, and we’re just as good. A lot of people didn’t give us a chance, but we proved we can fight with them and battle with them.”

Even without All-ACC junior forward Xylina McDaniel. Since injuring her leg on Dec. 21, she’s served the team as a steady 6-foot-2 presence on the bench.

For nearly three months, she watched as her teammates fought to earn the No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament and No. 4 seed in the Greensboro Region. But Friday’s loss proved to be the most vexing during her absence, fueling her future return.

“It was frustrating, but at the same time, I am blessed to say I have another year,” McDaniel said. “We’ll be back, and I’ll be back stronger.”

As the Tar Heels sat in the locker room, all they could hope for was the same — bolstering their 26-9, 10-6 ACC record as well as their roster with two McDonald’s All-Americans and extending their tournament stay.

And for Coach Sylvia Hatchell, she knows, possibly more than anyone else, what it takes for UNC to fight back after being knocked out.

“If anybody knows, I know life’s not fair. Things happen. But you have to be warriors and overcome them,” said Hatchell, who led a team to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011 after sitting out the 2013-14 season to fight leukemia.

“I told them just because it was a trip to the Elite 8, the Final Four was delayed — it wasn’t denied, it was delayed.”

sports@dailytarheel.com

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