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(04/28/10 4:54am)
North Carolina had fought through 10 runners left on base, a late-inning blown lead and even an ejection of coach Mike Fox.Before the 10th inning, senior shortstop Ryan Graepel had fought through an 0-for-1 day, three walks and a baserunning mishap that left both Graepel and Fox sprawled on the ground.But with the stage set in the bottom of the 10th against High Point — bases loaded, no outs and a full count — Graepel ended the night in dramatic fashion: hitting his first-ever grand slam. The blast gave the Tar Heels a highly contested 6-2 walkoff win and a cap on a night filled with missed opportunities.“We’ve could’ve been out of here 30 minutes earlier,” Graepel said about the failed chances.They sure could have.In the fifth, UNC found itself with runners on second and third and no outs. Three flyouts followed.By the sixth, outfielder Brian Goodwin had reached third with some nifty baserunning. Yet again a Tar Heel was left stranded.And if that wasn’t enough, the bottom of the eighth saw North Carolina with three UNC players all on base. Freshman Tommy Coyle stepped up to pinch hit. Coyle sat down moments later with a flyout to center.If not for these numerous misses on driving in players, UNC (26-17) would have captured the win in fairly memorable fashion — at least for catcher Jacob Stallings — earlier with his first career homer.“Now I know what it feels like to run around the bases a little bit,” Stallings said.Yet Stallings’ homer, or more importantly, Graepel’s dramatic dinger, wouldn’t have been necessary if earlier events had unfolded in a pro-North Carolina manner.During the fifth inning, Graepel rounded third and smacked into Fox, knocking each to the ground.“That might be a sign. That might be an omen right there, to get back in the dugout,” Fox joked.In the eighth, starter-turned-reliever Colin Bates threw errantly to first base on a High Point (22-22) sacrifice bunt, which enabled the Panthers to tie the game at two.Left fielder Ben Bunting and Coyle both left three runners on base. And to start the game, pitcher Garrett Davis lasted only one and two-thirds innings, giving up one run before Fox yanked him.But in came Michael Morin, who delivered a workman-like and career-high five innings of no-run ball.“The story was our pitching today,” Fox said. “They got a good hitting team, and we didn’t give up any earned runs after (Davis). They’re growing up.”So too has Graepel. As Fox cited afterward, only a veteran would have taken a 3-1 pitch with the bases loaded. And it paid off, as Graepel slammed the winner, and Fox — having been ejected for arguing balls and strikes — was not coaching at third base.“(Fox) wasn’t in the way that second time around the bases,” Graepel said with a laugh after the game.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(04/12/10 3:05am)
Right after a demoralizing December bowl loss to Pittsburgh, North Carolina coach Butch Davis stood at a podium in the depths of Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and proclaimed that his focus was already on the 2010 season.Others — namely the team’s fans — weren’t choosing such a selective memory. And rightly so, especially when focusing on the Tar Heels’ offensive production, which finished tenth or worst in most notable passing categories in the ACC last year.The brunt of that subsequent criticism, name-calling and coin-heaving fell on UNC quarterback T.J. Yates. The team’s backup, Bryn Renner, seemingly became a fan favorite without ever throwing a collegiate pass.At Saturday’s spring game, the status quo stayed essentially the same. Renner, even with two interceptions, received much of the fan’s adoration with an otherwise stellar day. Yates, meanwhile, struggled early in a fairly forgettable effort.“It was just like the tale of two quarterbacks,” safety Deunta Williams said. “It’s different styles. T.J. looked a lot better in practice. I think Bryn, for the most part, looked like himself. Courageous, bold, is a statement I’d use for him. He just throws the ball. He doesn’t think about it. He makes the plays. He’s a playmaker.”Early on that was quite apparent with Renner, who was leading the White squad. On his team’s first possession, the redshirt freshman marched right down the field before throwing a rocket to wideout Greg Little in the back of the end zone.“I tried to step up a little more because we’re out there in front of the fans, and I want to show them what I can do,” Renner said. “We took it to another level from practice.”By game’s end, Renner had gone 15-of-21 for 184 yards passing, including a highlight-reel, 55-yard deep bomb to Dwight Jones down the field. His teammates and coaches were clearly impressed.Little was shocked by Renner’s composure and calmness, mustering up after the game that his quarterback came to play today. Williams oozed respect, remarking that Renner makes a defensive back prove his worth every time out. And Davis?“I think in the quarterback aspect, clearly Bryn Renner had an outstanding day today,” he said. “His effectiveness was really good, and his huddle presence was good.”Davis’ words about Yates weren’t as heartwarming.“By the same token, I don’t think T.J. had one of his better days,” he said. “(Yates) got off to a slow start, but I thought he caught some composure in the middle of the scrimmage.”The Tar Heel incumbent at quarterback didn’t complete a pass for positive yardage until just 20 seconds remained in the first quarter. He was sacked five times. And he threw for only 122 yards with one interception.But with a ragtag group of offensive linemen, including freshman James Hurst protecting his blind side, Yates wasn’t getting much help. The running game for his Blue team was fairly nonexistent until late in the game. And, as Williams pointed out, it’s just the spring.Still, that didn’t stop Yates from issuing a dose of self-criticism.“I didn’t like the way I played, but I never do,” the rising redshirt senior said. “I’m always such a perfectionist.”He’ll have to be moving forward if he wants to keep his starting job. Davis said that Yates has earned the opportunity to win or lose his spot, though the quarterback race won’t be decided until close to 10 days before the LSU game in September.So for now, fans will just have the spring game as their own determinant. Though for Yates, that’s probably not his favorite judger.“Yeah (it was one of my worst days of spring practice),” he said. “It was just one of those days where things weren’t really clicking.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(04/12/10 2:15am)
For once on Friday night, it appeared Jesse Wierzbicki might not add to his RBI tally.In two earlier chances, the junior designated hitter had boomed doubles into the confines of left field. But with North Carolina in the process of breaking open a four-run affair in the bottom of the seventh, Wierzbicki approached a bases-loaded opportunity and promptly sky-rocketed a pitch into shallow right field.Yet even when things seemingly weren’t going right for Wierzbicki, they still did. N.C. State second baseman Dallas Poulk promptly dropped the fly-out, which allowed both Wierzbicki to reach safely and for another Tar Heel to cross home plate.“He’s just got that toughness about him that you’re not going to get him out,” outfielder Ben Bunting said of Wierzbicki.With the departure of sweet-stroking slugger Dustin Ackley to Major League Baseball, UNC coach Mike Fox has spent this season trying to replace the All-American’s production. Granted, that’s a nearly impossible task, but Wierzbicki has certainly carried his own weight.Entering the weekend, he led the Tar Heel starting lineup in batting average and did nothing to diminish his stats with a 5-for-13 series.On Friday, that was quite apparent from the get-go. In the bottom of the first inning, he slammed a liner past the outstretched arms of NCSU third baseman Andrew Ciencin for a two-bagger, easily scoring teammate Brian Goodwin. And although his next two plate appearances were hardly memorable, the sixth inning surely was.It was at that juncture with two outs and UNC up two that Wierzbicki calmly leveled a pitch deep into the gap between left-center. The ball reached the wall, and Wierzbicki reached second as both Mike Cavasinni and Jacob Stallings scored.“He’s been a big key for us,” Fox said. “He’s one of the guys on our team to hit some doubles. He takes a lot of pride, and he’s been a big key for us all year.”Saturday was no different. Again in the first inning, Wierzbicki reached second — though via a single on his behalf followed by a failed pickoff attempt by N.C. State pitcher Cory Mazzoni. And in the fourth, despite his team being down eight runs, he provided some solace with a double down the right-field line, which scored one.But was Wierzbicki done yet? Not quite.After getting the nod at first base on Sunday, the junior promptly started with his worst offensive showing of the series, going 0-for-3 in his first at-bats. Yet things just wouldn’t stay bad for Wierzbicki.He turned a tied ball game into a two-run North Carolina advantage in the seventh. His hit of choice? Another double that scored two.“We needed a big hit, and I was just fortunate enough to get a pitch I could pull,” Wierzbicki said. “It was nice to come through.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(03/22/10 4:17am)
Long after North Carolina had raced to two early leads on Friday and Sunday and long after the Tar Heels had subsequently lost each with late rallies by Florida State, UNC coach Mike Fox dropped a quite unexpected line during his postgame interview.“I don’t think the story Friday or today is our bullpen,” Fox said Sunday. “I was really proud of the guys that we brought in today.”Sure, No. 17 UNC (15-6, 2-4 ACC) had entered the eighth inning of both games with leads of at least two runs. And sure, the Tar Heels squandered away each game, but Fox wasn’t biting on the blame game of sorts.North Carolina had lost the series to No. 4 FSU, two games to one, but Fox argued that he couldn’t be more pleased. He had gotten another absolute gem from his staff’s ace, Matt Harvey, on Friday. The junior pitched seven innings, while allowing just two hits and no runs. Only when Harvey exited did the Seminoles (15-4, 3-3 ACC) begin to resemble an offensive dynamite. When they did, UNC pitchers Jimmy Messer and Greg Holt were FSU’s victims. They were lit up for five hits and three earned runs, and the Tar Heels fell 4-3.“I’m disappointed with the way I pitched on Friday,” Holt said. “I feel OK (with what I’m throwing). But I’m still struggling with my two-strike pitches and finishing batters.”On Saturday, redshirt junior Colin Bates miscued early, as FSU jumped on him with two runs. The UNC bats emphatically responded. UNC grabbed the lead in the second inning and never looked back, as the Tar Heels battered the Seminoles pitching staff in a 10-4 win.UNC’s offense continued to sizzle Sunday — especially after first baseman Dillon Hazlett hammered a double to a gap in the right, pushing in three runs.But when Florida State pitcher Brian Busch entered in the third inning, that all changed. Only one hit followed and no more runs occurred during his six innings on the mound. “The story today was Busch just shut us down from the third inning on,” Fox said.Still, it wasn’t as though Florida State was having much luck against North Carolina starter Patrick Johnson. In five innings of work, the junior recorded six strikeouts and allowed just one run.Even so, Johnson eventually wore down, forcing Fox to signal his bullpen — one of the team’s question marks entering the season.With the departure of Brian Moran to the Seattle Mariners via the MLB Draft and with the transition to starting pitching for Bates, Fox and pitching coach Scott Forbes have been left with few options. One such option has been Holt. And on Sunday, Fox again called for him. But, after escaping a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, Holt allowed a homer in the seventh.“It’s something they’re going to have to work through,” senior Ryan Graepel said of the bullpen’s struggles. “They really didn’t do that bad of a job. They just got a couple unlucky breaks today.”FSU scored four runs in the eighth and ninth innings and won 5-3.“I think that was the key to our bullpen; we just couldn’t finish,” Fox said. “We just couldn’t finish guys off.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(03/01/10 5:02am)
She had been called out by her coach, stripped of her leadership responsibilities and benched on more than one occasion.She had suffered through more losses than in any other season during her three years in Chapel Hill. She had thrown up an absolute clunker against Duke in the teams’ last meeting — recording not one field goal.But after it was all over Sunday, after the Tar Heels had at least partially exorcised a season which had seemingly teetered away long ago, there was Cetera DeGraffenreid, holding the game ball.She had played perhaps her best game of the year, given the circumstances and magnitude. And when it came time to celebrate, to let loose a season’s worth of frustration and just plain rejoice, the junior carried the game ball around all of Carmichael Auditorium. She high-fived every hand that came forward. She hugged past UNC players in attendance like Alex Miller. And she ferociously screamed, a far cry from the stone-faced emotion she usually displays.“To finish off with Duke at home, we’ve lost some games at home that we shouldn’t have lost,” DeGraffenreid said. “That’s one thing we don’t do at Carolina is lose games at home. It’s a great feeling (to beat Duke).”Mere weeks ago, though, her emotions were anything but pristine and peachy. Who knows where or when that rock bottom came? DeGraffenreid’s not sure or just not saying. It could’ve been against Connecticut, where she scored just four points. Could’ve been against Virginia Tech, when she missed 10 shots. Or it could’ve been recently against Boston College, when the Tar Heels blew a fairly winnable game. The latter seems certainly the most plausible, considering what the UNC point guard has done since. The Tar Heels have struggled, but her point totals have been 21, 15, 22 and 25. And against Duke, her trend of quality performances continued.“This young lady took us on her back when we needed it and led the team,” UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said afterward, pointing at DeGraffenreid.She certainly did. For after an extremely meager first half —DeGraffenreid had just two points — the junior exploded in the second stanza. The UNC coaching staff harped on DeGraffenreid to “take it to the basket,” and the guard responded.Around the 17:00 mark, DeGraffenreid broke a full-court Duke press, whizzing around four awestruck Blue Devils before dishing to Waltiea Rolle for an easy layup. With less than 11 minutes remaining, DeGraffenreid stole the ball from Duke’s Shay Selby and raced downcourt for a contested layup.And to top it off, she did all that with two taped up fingers on her dribbling hand. By game’s end she had 22 points, with an astonishing 15 coming from the free-throw line. “(DeGraffenreid) was the player of the game,” Duke coach Joanne McCallie said.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(02/24/10 3:44am)
The statline for North Carolina’s first baseman seemed almost customary Tuesday night against UNC-Greensboro. And for the past three seasons, it was — heck, even expected. With the departure of Dustin Ackley, the Tar Heels’ sweet-stroking star, to the big leagues this past year, you couldn’t help but believe a drop-off — or perhaps even a striking decline — might occur with the offensive statistics of UNC’s first basemen.Right? Well, not quite. Thus far in the 2010 campaign, junior Dillon Hazlett has provided glimpses of the Tar Heels — post-Ackley, that is. And thus far, such returns have been fairly positive. Hazlett went 3-for-4 against UNC-G.“(Dillon’s) been doing great over there,” outfielder Brian Goodwin said of Hazlett. “He’s making all the plays, and he’s getting calls over there that I even question. He’s stepping it up at the plate and stepping into a big role.”Obviously, it won’t be easy for Hazlett to truly fill Ackley’s shoes. The former UNC first baseman was a three-time All-America and Rivals.com’s top collegiate hitter of the 2000s — fairly lofty accolades to say the least. “I try not to say Dustin Ackley played there, because you can’t really live up to what he did,” Hazlett said.Coming into North Carolina’s matchup against UNC-G, Hazlett had accumulated a batting average of .444. Sure, all of his hits were singles, but so too were 67 of Ackley’s hits last year. And on Tuesday, well, it was more of the same.In the bottom of the first inning, the right-handed Hazlett hit a liner past the outstretched arms of UNC-G shortstop Eric Brindle and third baseman Taylor Schwarz. The shot scored sophomore Levi Michael from second — giving Hazlett his second RBI of the season. Two innings later, Hazlett singled in another run — pushing UNC’s lead to 3-0. “He’s off to a good start for us,” coach Mike Fox said of Hazlett. “Nobody’s going to replace Dustin Ackley. We’re not asking him to. We got to get production from a lot of people. But being a transfer, he’s got some experience, and that’s going to help him.”It has so far.By the bottom of the fourth, and with the score 5-2, Hazlett again batted with a runner in scoring position. And as it became increasingly expected throughout the day, he delivered. This time, he did it with yet another single — which ushered Michael home once more.About the only miscue Hazlett had on the day was his handling of an errant throw from Michael, which allowed a UNC-G baserunner to reach first safely.Fox sure seemed content with the junior’s performance afterward, citing Hazlett’s hitting in the clutch and defense as huge positives.The rest of the UNC squad couldn’t agree more.“Right now, he’s filling the shoes (at first base),” Goodwin said of Hazlett.
(02/12/10 5:04am)
It took only one play. One play with less than a minute to go and four seconds remaining on the shot clock.The play summed up North Carolina’s season, the utmost maxim in UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell’s basketball repertoire, and everything that could have been this year if the Tar Heels consistently followed her words.It all started when Boston College’s Mickel Picco let loose a prayer from distance and BC forward Stefanie Murphy grabbed the resulting rebound.Murphy immediately tossed this gift — a Picco airball — back over her head just as the shot clock expired. Somehow it went in.It was a blow North Carolina couldn’t recover from. So for the fourth straight game the Tar Heels fell. This time to BC, 69-62.“It’s like I’m in a nightmare,” Hatchell said. “Losing two games in a row at home, I don’t know when that’s ever happened to us.”The reasons?Well, it could be her juniors, Cetera DeGraffenreid and Italee Lucas. Once again, both underperformed. They shot a combined 8-for-22.In the postgame press conference, Hatchell pointed to two crucial free throws that DeGraffenreid missed and even mentioned that the pair’s leadership roles have been taken away.“I’m telling them, ‘Just play like you used to,’” Hatchell said.It could be the omnipresent rebounding issue. Once again, the Tar Heels (16-7, 4-5 ACC) fell in this category, 43-39. More importantly, however, the Eagles (14-10, 5-4 ACC) turned 18 offensive rebounds into 25 points. UNC? Just nine.It might just be North Carolina’s slow starts. This time, UNC fell behind 15-4 early and only took its first lead with just under a minute to go in the first half. Against Duke last game, the Tar Heels never led.Whatever it is, Hatchell couldn’t be more frustrated.“It’s like a bad dream. I just never thought — that where we are right now, what happened to us tonight — I just never thought that would happen to one of our teams,” Hatchell said. “A lot of it has to do with pride. Maybe that’s something we have to learn.”After trailing by a large margin early, North Carolina rallied in the first half with six points from sophomore Chay Shegog along with three huge blocks from Waltiea Rolle. Rolle, a freshman, started the game for UNC, and at the 10:22 mark, she made her presence known with a key swat off the backboard.By half’s end, a She’la White 3-pointer and a Shegog layup at the buzzer gave the Tar Heels a 34-31 advantage.But they couldn’t hold it.Boston College guard Kerri Shields rattled in a three at the 16:26 mark. Picco did the same later on. And with three minutes remaining in the game, BC led by seven.The Eagles were gathering every loose ball in sight, including a layup by Murphy after she missed a jumper with 2:09 left in the second half.“We just don’t have the intensity level on offense or defense,” Hatchell said. “That’s what I’m disappointed in most: our intensity.”White continued her coach’s thoughts.“Like coach said, just playing with more heart,” White said of fixing UNC’s woes.North Carolina cut the deficit to four after a White three-pointer with 1:25 remaining. But Murphy’s miraculous shot proved timely, killing any hope of winning.“We’re not taking pride on our home court,” Hatchell said. “I’m really, really disappointed in that. I’ll take the responsibility for it, and I’m going to do something about it.” Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(02/12/10 4:57am)
Quite frankly, North Carolina baseball coach Mike Fox tries not to think about what’s gone. The 213 wins and just 62 losses in the past four seasons alone. The multiple trips to Omaha, Neb., and the College World Series. The two runner-up finishes and the numerous MLB draft picks.And perhaps most importantly, the top two-thirds of his starting rotation, Adam Warren and Alex White, who Fox will somehow try and replace this season.Because, as Fox admits, even with hitting wizards Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager manning the plate in the past, the UNC offense comes and goes. But his starting pitching, well, that’s what his team is predicated on.This year, Fox isn’t quite sure what he has. Statistics and rankings say he’s got perhaps the finest 2007 high school graduate in the nation leading his rotation with Matt Harvey. And inexperience with his starters says he’s got a converted reliever trudging in as his No. 2 man with Colin Bates.In fact, all that’s known is how unknown this season could turn out — especially with the team’s starting pitching.And for Bates, that’s excitement in itself.“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun for people to watch,” he said. “Something we do have, we have a lot of strikethrowers. It’s very encouraging. A lot of guys look like they’re ready to step up to the challenge, and I’m looking forward to seeing it myself.”Bates, for one, will be getting the chance this season. After redshirting in 2007 with a blood clot in his right shoulder, the now-junior compiled a 4-4 record during 60 innings of work as a middle reliever last year. In the past, Fox has had no qualms with inserting Bates during the toughest predicaments. And as Harvey attests, “it’s always nice having him behind us.” But for now, that will no longer be the case.During the offseason, Fox sat down with pitching coach Scott Forbes and discussed Bates’ future — more specifically pertaining to starting. With no sure-fire freshman coming in who can start immediately, Fox didn’t want to risk too much inexperience with the starters.Insert Bates.“My preference is to pitch whenever Coach tells me to,” Bates said. “But I’m looking forward to the opportunity to start if it presents itself. If I have to go back to the bullpen, that’s what I’ll do.”Harvey, meanwhile, will do no such switching. As the Tar Heels’ Sunday starter last year, he will be jumping up two rungs in the rotation with Warren and White gone.For many North Carolina fans, it’s been expected since Harvey’s heralded schoolboy days he’d be the team’s No. 1 starter. Heck, he was Baseball America’s No. 1 high school prospect entering college. And after posting a 7-2 record and 2.79 ERA his freshman season, it seemed Harvey might just verify such thoughts.But then came his sophomore campaign and an ERA that spiked to 5.40, albeit with another 7-2 record.“It was a rough year,” he said. “It was mostly mechanical issues I had. A lot of people thought I was hurt. It was mostly I’d said, me going through my mechanics and having a little trouble with that. Maybe not going after the hitter as much as I should.”“I think I put too much pressure on the year. I had too many expectations for myself and kind of let those get ahead of me instead of just going out each day and pitching like I could.”Still, as Fox points out, “take out two bad efforts, and Matt Harvey did not have as bad a year as people are trying to make it out.”Harvey did allow seven runs in limited performances against Duke and N.C. State. But contrarily, he pitched perhaps UNC’s biggest game of the year — Fox says as much — against Boston College. With a Coastal Division crown and a national NCAA seed likely on the line, the then-sophomore pitched an absolute gem: allowing one run in eight and two-thirds innings.It’s a trend Harvey will hope to continue this year, and if he keeps the distractions to a minimum — he’s eligible once more for the MLB draft after being a third-round selection his senior year of high school — he definitely could.“Matt’s an incredible talent and is capable of keeping us in every game he pitches in,” Fox said. “We’ve constantly talked to Matt about the (MLB draft) process and the things he can control. When you’re told in high school that you’re this and that. If you’re not careful those things can distort the real purpose of what playing the game is. You do put too much pressure on yourself. It’s a growing process, and it’s some maturity on Matt’s part.“Yet, all Matt has to do is step back and look at those two guys (Warren and White) and say, ‘This is how you do it.’”Fox won’t have either Warren or White around for such lessons, but Harvey and Bates say they’ve taken any past advice to heart. They’ll have to. It’s their rotation now.“All eyes are going to be on our pitchers and how we can go out and pitch, especially our starters,” Fox said.
(02/09/10 6:48am)
DURHAM — Their expressions told it all.North Carolina’s usually exuberant assistant coach Andrew Calder stood stone-faced before a timeout with 3:53 left in the second half. Freshman Tierra Ruffin-Pratt buried her face in a towel. Team leaders Italee Lucas and Cetera DeGraffenreid stared blankly ahead.They all knew. It was over.Only minutes before, though, a sliver of hope remained with UNC’s fortunes.After Lucas came off a screen and nailed a 3 at the top of the key with 12:29 remaining, even with the Tar Heels still trailing by 11, North Carolina’s bench and student section sensed a change of momentum. It seemed that Lucas— as she had so many times before — might will this team back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit.Assistant coach Tracey Williams-Johnson stood up and yelled at Lucas. “Be strong,” she said.But her words fell on deaf ears. No. 18 North Carolina lost to its archrivals from Duke, 79-51, and it wasn’t even that close.“We’re doing basically a lot of the same things we’ve been doing,” coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “I don’t know (what’s wrong).”After entering the game with two straight losses, the Tar Heels (16-6, 4-4 ACC) picked up right where they left off. The No. 8 Blue Devils (19-4, 7-1) began the game on a 10-0 run, and it took a timeout from Hatchell to calm a team that started the half with turnovers from Lucas, DeGraffenreid and Waltiea Rolle.At the 17:15 mark, sophomore Laura Broomfield painstakingly ended UNC’s woes with a layup, but things continued to devolve throughout the evening.It took close to nine minutes for the Tar Heels to hit a double-digit point total. Sophomore She’la White committed several fouls and turnovers. Granted, she still was one of UNC’s bright spots — especially in the first half — as she chipped in 10 points with two enormous 3-pointers.The Blue Devils used a full-court press, and North Carolina panicked. Duke went zone at points, and UNC found itself trapped in corners by double teams. Yet even so, the Tar Heels trailed by just nine points at halftime, 42-33.It wasn’t enough. Hatchell had several pointed words for her veterans.“We’ve got to get Italee Lucas and Cetera DeGraffenreid playing better, or they’re going to have to get to the bench,” she said. “It’s not like we don’t have experienced guards, they’re just making really poor decisions. I’m gonna keep changing things up until I find something that works.”Hatchell certainly didn’t find it in the second half. Within 71 seconds, one of her point guards, White, had turned over her first possession, missed a jumper and committed a push-off foul.DeGraffenreid continued her poor performances of late with a 0-for-8 night. And Lucas managed just six points while turning the ball over six times.“(Keturah Jackson) spent 34 minutes on 50 (Lucas),” Duke coach Joanne McCallie said. “That was pretty intense defense.”By the 9:13 mark, the Blue Devils’ lead stretched to 62-43. And at one juncture, they pushed it to 30.Hatchell lambasted her team’s rebounding performance afterward. UNC managed just 28 boards, allowing Duke 22 second-chance points.No North Carolina players were available for postgame interviews to comment on their play, but Hatchell summed up any lingering feelings.“It’s like we got a little plague or something over in Chapel Hill. I don’t know what it is (with us),” Hatchell said.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(01/26/10 5:58am)
RALEIGH — North Carolina entered Reynolds Coliseum on its most successful stretch ever against N.C. State. A staggering 17 of the past 19 contests had gone in the Tar Heels’ favor, yet with 12 minutes remaining in the second half, none of that seemed to matter.The Wolfpack were in the midst of extending their largest lead of the game to nine. And just moments before, NCSU’s Emili Tasler swished home another three-pointer. The crowd was in a frenzy as no one on UNC seemed willing to take any sort of cold-blooded shot.Well, not quite. Moments later, junior Italee Lucas grabbed the ball at the top of the key and immediately netted a three-point attempt to begin a UNC rally that would give it an 81-69 win.“She made some tough shots, first of all,” N.C. State coach Kellie Harper said of Lucas. “We defended her well, and she was still able to score. We wanted to keep the ball out of her hands but were unable to do that.”From there, it was all Lucas — who scored 28 points in the second half — and all UNC.The first half was anything but peachy. UNC (16-3, 4-1 ACC) started off the game in miserable fashion, making just 31.4 percent of its attempts and managing to miss all seven shots from long range.But at halftime, something changed.“At halftime, I called the stats out,” UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “They were not good. For Cetera (DeGraffenreid), for Italee or She’la (White). I called them all out. I told them, ‘You gotta lead this team. You gotta pick up the tempo there.’ That made a big difference.” It certainly did. Especially with Lucas, who had missed all five of her shots in the first half. But after the Wolfpack (12-8, 2-3) started the second stanza with four straight points, Lucas responded with a jumper of her own and then some, to put it lightly.“The plays that we run get me the open look,” Lucas said. “Cetera being able to penetrate and kick. It’s the plays.”That may be, but by the 12:38 mark, Lucas had 15 points. Even then, it didn’t seem like she was truly feeling her stroke. With just under 11 minutes remaining, though, Lucas started sizzling.She cut into the lane for an off-balance, scoop layup. On the next Tar Heel possession, she hit a fading jumper while going back into the UNC bench, closing North Carolina to within two, 54-52.Noticeable groans echoed throughout Reynolds. Harper bit her lip. The North Carolina bench whooped and hollered.A minute later, DeGraffenreid simply handed the ball to Lucas and jetted out of the way as another long jumper netted in. By game’s end, she had scored a career-high 33 points.The rest of the Tar Heels seemed to feed off Lucas’ performance, as DeGraffenreid scored 16 and freshman Waltiea Rolle chipped in 12 points. N.C. State crumbled late, and Harper suggested her team was forcing shots to keep pace with Lucas.“Italee got going, which made the difference,” Hatchell said.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(01/19/10 5:27am)
Ten days ago against Connecticut, North Carolina point guard Cetera DeGraffenreid managed four points on 14 percent shooting.
(12/27/09 3:24am)
CHARLOTTE – Nearly three minutes into Dave Wannstedt’s postgame press conference, Pittsburgh running back Dion Lewis tried to sneak in the side door unnoticed.
(12/27/09 3:16am)
(12/13/09 3:49am)
The tale of Justin Watts’ start against Presbyterian began last Monday.
(12/12/09 10:07pm)
CARY – North Carolina’s season ended at 10:41 p.m. Friday, yet senior captain Zach Loyd couldn’t – heck, wouldn’t – immediately leave the WakeMed Soccer Park field.
(12/09/09 7:57pm)
Nearly eight years have passed, but Drew McKinney remembers.
(12/09/09 3:40am)
The plays have become almost predictable. In a game like any other, on a Tuesday night like any other, Cetera DeGraffenreid and Italee Lucas faced Radford and did as usual: Quite frankly, they took over.
It’s easy to look at the statistic sheet and see certain scoring runs. It’s easy to look at the lack of scoring from various other players on both teams. But it isn't easy to measure intangibles. And in a run-of-the-mill win against the Highlanders, 74-48, the pair brought just that.
“Just pretty much the whole team needs to step up,” Lucas said. “There’s no way we should let a team like that do that to us.”
After UNC sprinted out to a 12-0 lead, Radford rallied and took a slim advantage. But then DeGraffenreid and Lucas, as if turned on by a switch, went to work.
With North Carolina holding a 22-19 lead around the 7:00 mark in the first half, Lucas, the team’s junior shooting guard, inbounded from beneath the Highlanders’ basket. A five-second violation rapidly approached, so Lucas made a play.
The Radford defender guarding Lucas turned away. So the junior threw the ball off the player’s back. Quickly, Lucas gathered the pass and put in a layup, giving North Carolina a 24-19 lead. The moment was as insignificant as they come in an eventual Tar Heel blowout, but the UNC coaching staff couldn’t help but glow on the bench at such basketball intelligence.
DeGraffenreid, the lightning-quick point guard, wasn’t about to be outdone by her teammate, though. A minute after Lucas’ play, DeGraffenreid gave her teammate a sweet assist.
“The best thing is out of the 30 baskets, we had 22 assists,” coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “I really liked that. Good team basketball. I told them in the locker room, ‘You pass the ball and you score. Someone had 22 of those baskets.’”
Still, DeGraffenreid wasn’t done.
With seconds remaining in the first half, the junior cut into the lane and drove toward the basket. At the last second, before any sort of charge, she wrapped a pass around the body of her Radford opponent. Sophomore Laura Broomfield caught the dish and put in the easy layup.
“Uhh, she’s a pain,” Radford coach Tajam Abraham Ngongba said of DeGraffenreid. “She’s one of those silent assassins that come and go in games. She gives you that dagger, just when you thought you had something.”
At halftime, Ngongba likely thought her team had something. The Highlanders trailed by only five points.
Well, for now.
Lucas and DeGraffenreid accounted for 13 points in the first half. And with just less than nine minutes remaining in the second half, they matched that total.
DeGraffenreid, for one, made sure it was a memorable one – especially for Ngongba, who watched blankly at times from the sideline at both guard's skillsets.
The likely highlight of the night came around the 16:00 mark in the second half. At that juncture, DeGraffenreid cut down the lane, spun a 180 degree turn around a startled defender and put in the easy basket. The points pushed North Carolina’s lead to 12. And by all accounts and purposes, the game was sealed.
“Whenever they need a basket, they know they can get it from her,” Ngongba said of UNC’s talented junior floor-general.
(12/07/09 5:13am)
Even with Italee Lucas scoring North Carolina’s first eight points, the UNC coaching staff wanted more.In fact, after Lucas passed up a wide-open three-point opportunity before the game’s first timeout, head coach Sylvia Hatchell and assistant Andrew Calder let Lucas know their feelings.As the sweet-stroking junior walked toward the bench, both coaches popped up furiously and yelled for her to shoot next time. And although she made amends — at least attempting from distance seven more times — the results weren’t pretty.Neither were the No. 4 Tar Heels, as UNC etched out a sloppy win against St. John’s on Sunday, 83-73.“I thought we had a lot of good looks early,” Hatchell said. “We got layups, transition, all that stuff. And we were missing them. If we could’ve made those and our foul shots, we could’ve had a big lead. We didn’t.”With Lucas providing the team’s only early offense, UNC didn’t begin to stretch its lead until late in the first half. Sure, the usual suspects of Lucas and point guard Cetera DeGraffenreid were filling up the team’s point total, earning 15 and eight first-half points, respectively.But not much else was going right.North Carolina (6-1) struggled with turnovers early, giving the ball away nine times in the first half. St. John’s suffered its own problems with 16 giveaways in the first half.UNC’s transition defense left much to be desired. The Tar Heels would score a layup just to give one away to St. John’s. At close to the 10-minute mark in the first half, DeGraffenreid weaved into the lane for a nifty score. But right after, the Red Storm (7-1) emphatically responded with a layup on their next possession.Still, Hatchell didn’t seem bothered.“Nah, we like that,” Hatchell said. “They may get a layup, but we’re going to get one on the other end, too.”On offense, the Tar Heels found themselves hard-pressed to find any rhythm. With the Smith Center’s shot clock malfunctioning throughout the first and second halves, UNC can be somewhat forgiven, but the shooting totals suffered.North Carolina shot just 18.8 percent from beyond the arc and 40.7 from the field. Even the team’s free throw shooting suffered. UNC made only 53.8 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe.As a result, the Tar Heels lost a 12-point halftime lead and found themselves tied with SJU, 65-65, with just 7:37 remaining.The game’s outcome was now dicey, and Hatchell needed her floor general to wreak havoc.“She said a lot to me, but I don’t remember when it was 65-65,” DeGraffenreid said while laughing afterward.No matter, the junior acted as if she was let loose. At the 5:30 mark, she cut in between several Red Storm defenders for a contested layup. Moments later, the junior led a one-woman fast break for a layup — pushing the lead essentially out of reach, 75-67.“They started pressing, so I knew we had an advantage if I were to go,” DeGraffenreid said. “We would have the advantage on the end. And we did.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(11/30/09 5:35am)
For the first 20 minutes of Sunday’s third-round NCAA match between North Carolina and Indiana, Hoosiers coach Mike Freitag thought nobody wanted to play.Neither team produced any golden opportunities, and possession kept getting squandered around midfield.Quite frankly, Freitag believed the game was dull.But in the 28th minute, that all changed — in regrettable fashion, too, for Freitag and all those in red.At that point, UNC forward Alex Dixon settled a pass inside Indiana’s 18-yard box and fired in a splendid goal between two IU defenders. The strike eventually proved the game winner, as North Carolina won, 1-0.It was the sophomore’s second goal in two games and a sharp transition from his early-season struggles.“I’ve had a lot of injuries and stuff,” Dixon said. “I’m getting healthier and healthier. Just getting my confidence back, and it’s giving me the extra motivation to go out there and help.”The No. 5 seed Tar Heels (15-2-3) now held the lead, and seemingly, a ticket to the NCAA quarterfinals.With a team that has allowed just 11 goals on the season, UNC coach Elmar Bolowich could go the conservative route and hold his squad back on defensive.But instead, he did just the opposite.“We didn’t want to go into any defensive formations whatsoever,” Bolowich said. “We needed that second goal. I encouraged the players to attack even more forcefully and throw even more players forward.“I always feel that attack is our best defense.”The Tar Heels never got that added cushion, but they did get close.Minutes after Dixon’s goal, captain Zach Loyd drove a header toward Indiana’s back post. A Hoosiers defender standing on the goal line was just able to deflect the ball safely away.IU’s goalkeeper, Luis Soffner, was bombarded again and again on North Carolina corner kicks, as sophomore Kirk Urso essentially hit curving shots from the corner flag.“It’s not the only (corner kick) we have, but when we do run it — and today Kirk almost scored from it,” Bolowich said. “The keeper was caught on the near post, and fortunately (for IU), he got a hand on it and cleared it off the line.”Soffner’s counterpart in goal, North Carolina keeper Brooks Haggerty, didn’t face such problems.The senior tallied four saves on the day, as the North Carolina defense limited Indiana (12-10-1) to long-range efforts — whether that was shots or opportunistic crosses.The only real chance for Indiana occurred toward the first half’s closing as IU forward Darren Yeagle headed a beautiful cross just wide of goal.Haggerty watched helplessly as Yeagle made contact, but the effort was meager and misguided.North Carolina defender Jordan Graye, for one, didn’t seem too troubled by Indiana’s efforts afterward.“We’re trying to keep our defense together and as a unit. It’s crunch time,” he said. “It’s important for us to get the first goal.“We know if we get that first one, we can pretty much hold it down in the back.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(11/23/09 4:58am)
Alex Dixon thought about bringing it out a few times this year, but refrained. Sure, the sophomore forward recorded North Carolina’s first hat trick since 2005 against Stetson this October. And yes, he scored a crucial goal against Wake Forest on the road a few weeks before.But neither moment caused Dixon to celebrate as effusively as he did last year.That changed in Sunday’s second round NCAA tournament game against No. 25 Brown (11-3-5). The No. 4 Tar Heels won 2-0. And after Dixon provided the game’s dagger, he rekindled his dramatic celebratory ways. “Kirk (Urso) played me a nice ball through, and I was like, ‘If I get on the other side of the defender, I can have more space to go,’” Dixon said. “I got by him, and the back post was open, so I just slid it back there.”As soon as the ball hit the net, Dixon beelined toward the UNC bench. But before embracing any teammates, he performed a cartwheel and a backflip. “I did it a couple times last year,” Dixon said. “I haven’t done it all this year. It was good to bring it out.”The Tar Heels (14-2-3) put up 11 shots during the game, though they dominated possession throughout. Forward Billy Schuler capitalized with the team’s first goal in the 20th minute after Urso hit an in-swinging cross into the box. Schuler headed the ball into the net.“We’ve been working in practice a lot on our free kicks and restarts,” Schuler said. “We have all our runs down, and Kirk played me to the right spot in the middle.”But other than that finish, UNC didn’t make the most of its opportunities. Schuler spent most of the game around the 18-yard box, but couldn’t finish several chances. Junior midfielder Cameron Brown blasted a couple shots over the goal. And even Dixon missed.In fact, with less than 28 minutes remaining in the second half, Dixon found himself collecting the ball right inside the box. But with defenders trailing, he decided to quickly blast a shot at Brown’s keeper. The effort was easily deflected.“Brown was very, very competitive,” Bolowich said. “We expected that. There’s a reason why they’re here. You have to find a way to survive and move on and advance.”After a disappointing loss to N.C. State in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament, such a display by the Tar Heels didn’t seem likely. Goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty spoke afterward about how excited the team was to get back on the field. A physical struggle occurred, and UNC left with the ugly win.Still, the Tar Heels can take some consolation knowing they took this same route last year to the NCAA championship game — they lost in the ACC quarterfinal before going on a surprising run in the NCAA tournament. Dixon wouldn’t mind a return to the NCAA finals. In fact, he even suggested an extended celebration if he scored in this year’s title game.“Definitely a couple more flips and maybe a slide,” he said.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.