North Carolina women’s basketball season ended in second round

NEWARK, Del. — In contrast to the piercingly loud arena they had just left, the silence of the usually animated Sylvia Hatchell and her North Carolina players was striking.

North Carolina had lost 78-69 to Delaware in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and its season was over.

Senior center Waltiea Rolle, who scored a team-high 23 points, attended the post-game press conference but refused to answer any questions.

“I really don’t have anything to say,” Hatchell finally said when prompted. “I wish Delaware good luck playing on a neutral court.”

The sixth-seeded Blue Hens, playing in their home arena, had nearly the full strength of the Bob Carpenter Center’s more than 5,000 fans behind them.

“Having the players on the floor would have made a major difference,” Hatchell added later in the locker room, referring to her team’s late foul trouble. “I think we would have won, but I can’t control that.”

Rolle, who kept pace with All-American Elena Delle Donne in the first half, fouled out of the game with 4:08 to play and was sidelined with four fouls for much of the second half.

Delaware took full advantage of this void in the post as it made its second-half comeback while its players egged on the crowd from the sideline. Without Rolle, and with four fouls on Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, UNC’s offense stagnated as Delaware’s fans grew louder.

“I’m just disappointed for the girls,” Hatchell said later in the locker room. “They never should have had to come up here and play in this environment.”

But initially, UNC handled the atmosphere better than it did against Albany on Sunday in the first round. UNC shot 48 percent from the floor in the first half. Megan Buckland hit four consecutive 3-pointers in the half’s final five minutes. Brittany Rountree too hit a pair from behind the arc in the first half.

UNC led 43-35 at halftime, and that was after Delle Donne hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

“Coming off of my game against Albany, it was more of a confidence thing, believing in myself and using what God gave me,” Buckland said, referring to her one-point performance on Sunday.

But Delaware matched UNC blow-for-blow in the second half and steadily crept ahead in the game’s final seven minutes. UNC stayed within seven until the final 15 seconds, but fouled repeatedly as time wound down.

Following last year’s bout of injuries and failure to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, the loss was a sudden blow to the team’s hopes at redemption.

But the players, who Hatchell characterized as some of the closest-knit she’s ever coached, had no words of pity for themselves.

Senior Krista Gross only had words enough for a final piece of advice to the teammates she’ll leave behind.

“I can’t put words on it,” she said. “You know, senior year’s going to end, and then when it does, it hits you that you’re never putting this jersey on again. You want to tell the younger players to take every second of wearing this jersey and appreciate it.”

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