The Daily Tar Heel

Serving the students and the University community since 1893

Wednesday March 22nd

Sports



Tar Heels Take Down Spartans

One must think of possible consequences in scheduling. North Carolina wrestling coach Bill Lam can say he learned his lesson Saturday -- or maybe not. The Tar Heels blanked UNC-Greensboro 41-0 at Carmichael Auditorium, then headed west to defeat Appalachian State in Boone later that night. The victories put North Carolina back at .500 with a 4-4 dual meet record (1-0 in the ACC). At the start of the year, two matches in 24 hours looked very plausible to a talent-laden team.

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Tar Heels Trounce Wildcats

North Carolina's women's tennis team took another step Sunday in its path toward national prominence.But the misstep of Julie Rotondi may be an obstacle in that path.The good news for the Tar Heels: They beat No. 32 Kentucky 6-1, losing one singles match, a forfeit because of Rotondi's ankle injury.Her match was the closest of the day as she won the first set 7-5 but fell in the second set 6-4.

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Brown Shines as Tar Heels' New Leader

The North Carolina women's basketball team's season kicked off with a lot of question marks. The biggest of which being what would the Tar Heels do without Nikki Teasley.Now at the midpoint of the ACC season as UNC (10-7, 4-3 in the ACC) hosts No. 4 Duke (18-1, 6-1) at 7 p.m. tonight at Carmichael Auditorium, sophomore Coretta Brown has provided at least one emphatic answer: She runs this team now.During Teasley's seven-game absence in January, Brown took control as point guard and struggled along with her teammates.

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Preparation Pays Off for UNC

Virginia could have used a sixth Cavalier on the floor Wednesday night at the Smith Center.After all, North Carolina's Blue team got that luxury in practice this week while preparing UNC for the game."We were practicing the press against the Blue team like two days ago and were turning the ball over a lot," UNC point guard Ronald Curry said."The execution was good tonight. We did have one or two turnovers, but we handled the press well. I think that's the difference in the game."The No.

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Forte's Hot Shooting Lifts Tar Heels Again

Matt Doherty didn't get the satisfaction of looking at the final stat sheet and seeing a number in the 30s under Virginia's field-goal percentage.Instead, North Carolina's coach had to settle for one under Joseph Forte's scoring total.Forte scored 33 points on Wednesday night to lead fifth-ranked UNC to a 88-81 victory against 13th-ranked Virginia in front of 21,750 fans at the Smith Center. Forte hit 13 of his 23 field-goal attempts from the field and also finished with five rebounds and four assists."He's a tremendous player," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.

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Bunting Completes Hirings

North Carolina football coach John Bunting completed his coaching staff Tuesday with the hiring of running backs coach Andre Powell.Powell spent the last five years as an assistant coach at Virginia, coaching wide receivers and running backs."His connection with (UNC offensive coordinator) Gary Tranquill is important because of his knowledge of the offensive system," Bunting said. "Andre has coached other positions, but his specialty is coaching running backs.

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UNC Looks for Patience In Face of Virginia Press

The distinction often rests on a few extra seconds ticking off the clock. It might simply mean a couple of other hands have touched the ball before it reaches its final destination.The distinction is an important one to Matt Doherty, though. North Carolina's coach doesn't seem to worry about his offense creating open looks at the basket. Those have come.But good shots won't satisfy Doherty when No. 5 UNC takes on No. 13 Virginia today at 7 p.m. at the Smith Center.

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Wilson Continues to Strive For All-Around Excellence

Whether it is in the classroom, community or North Carolina record books, senior gymnast Brooke Wilson is used to seeing her name in a positive light.Owner of all but one all-time Tar Heel gymnastics marks, Wilson has come full circle since arriving in Chapel Hill.It began in winter of 1998, when Wilson was a senior in high school.North Carolina gymnastics coach Derek Galvin first bore witness to Wilson's potential during a visit to Sumter, S.C."During the recruiting process, I went to watch Brooke train," Galvin said.

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Browns Short Circuit Against Oklahoma

Oklahoma caused a brownout in Carmichael Auditorium on Sunday. No, the lights never dimmed during the ACC/Big 12 Challenge between North Carolina's women's basketball team and Oklahoma.But the Sooners effectively sucked the power out of UNC's top guards, Coretta Brown and Juana Brown.Before Sunday's matchup both Browns had been playing near the top of their games. Juana Brown was averaging 13.8 points per game and boasted a free-throw percentage of 71.8.

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Tar Heels Smother Richmond

As the world was watching the transfer of power in the nation's capital Saturday, the North Carolina women's tennis team asserted its power over Richmond at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.The Tar Heels breezed past the Spiders 7-0 in both teams' first official match of the season.At last weekend's Carolina Indoor Invitational, UNC's singles lineup was solid, but the Tar Heels were vulnerable in doubles action, capturing only three out of seven matches. Problem identified.

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Reporters Not Only Pretty Faces

Excuse me if I'm not offended. I know, being a female and all, I'm supposed to be completely outraged that Playboy.com had the audacity to poll its Internet audience on who was the sexiest sportscaster.The contest concluded Jan. 12, and surprisingly, CBS sideline reporter Jill Arrington (26 percent of the vote) defeated ABC's Melissa Stark (23 percent). That might be the outrage.Playboy.com's poll isn't demeaning or insulting because all of the women involved were hired because they are beautiful.Television sportscasting operates on a double standard.

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Defensive Turnaround Keys Win Streak

At the end of the season, guys might be able to look back on it and laugh.But it wasn't funny the day it happened. North Carolina got bombed by Kentucky on Dec. 2, 2000 -- at home. The unranked Wildcats shot 50.7 percent from the field, beat the Tar Heels up and down the court at will and defeated them 93-76.Players sat in silence in the UNC locker room. They pointed out that Kentucky hadn't been making its shots in previous games, which was correct.But there was more to it than North Carolina catching the Wildcats on a hot day.

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Sooners Shoot Down Women's Basketball

With four teams in the top 25, the ACC has staked out a claim as one of the most talented and demanding women's basketball conferences in the nation this season."Our conference is so tough -- every game, every possession," UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "And, normally, this time of the season when you have a game out of the conference, it's a breather because of the way the conference is."But Hatchell and her Tar Heels got a rude introduction to perhaps the best league in the country Sunday, suffering a 94-77 defeat to No.

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UNC Track Kicks Off Season

For the last eight seasons, North Carolina's women's indoor track and field team has run away from its ACC competition.This year's goal for UNC: to leave its conference competitors in the dust and make its mark nationally. The Tar Heels will begin their shot at national prominence at Virginia Tech today."Throughout the 1990s we were always first or second in the ACCs," said UNC track and field coach Dennis Craddock. "I want us to get back there.

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Brown Leads Tar Heels In Defeat of Seminoles

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- North Carolina captured its second straight ACC win, defeating Florida State 75-62 Thursday night at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center. Juana Brown led the Tar Heels (10-6, 4-3 in the ACC) with 21 points and shot 8-of-13 from the field and hit four 3-pointers. Four Tar Heels, including leading ACC scorer LaQuanda Barksdale, scored in double digits. Barksdale also pulled down 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels, helping them win on the boards 36-33.Florida State's Shinikki Whiting turned in 17 points in the losing effort.

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Fencing Thrusts Forward

Teams in the Midwest Conference are a big priority for North Carolina's Josh Webb and Kim Treiber. Webb, an epee fencer, and Treiber, a sabre fencer, have their priorities in order this weekend as perennial Midwest power Ohio State joins host Northwestern in a 14-team fencing meet that begins at 8 a.m.

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Tar Heels Keep Streak Alive, Embarrass Clemson

Will Solomon's one-man basketball show came to Chapel Hill on Wednesday night and ran into something far superior: a total team effort from North Carolina.The Tar Heels put four players in double figures, and three more scored at least eight points as they defeated Clemson 92-65 in front of 21,335 at the Smith Center.They also limited the Tigers to 38.7-percent shooting and held Solomon, the ACC's leading scorer at 21.9 points per game, to 17."It was a solid effort all-around," said UNC guard Joseph Forte, who finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.

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Tar Heels Look to Extend Streak

There are streaks, and then there are streaks.The North Carolina men's basketball team's domination of Clemson in Chapel Hill falls under that second category.The Tar Heels have never -- that's right, never -- lost at home to Clemson. The scoreboard reads UNC 46, Tigers 0.Clemson will take its annual stab at ending the skid tonight at 7, in a game televised by ESPN."I think it's very important to remember but also very important to make sure it's not over-emphasized," Clemson coach Larry Shyatt said. "These teams have not met this year.

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UNC Wrestlers Squeeze Past 'Pack

RALEIGH -- Corey Bell is North Carolina's captain and ranked nationally as the No. 14 wrestler in the 174-pound weight class.JohnMark Bentley, a redshirt junior, is the No. 8 wrestler in the 149-pound weight class. As they go, so go the four-time defending ACC champion Tar Heel wrestling team. Tuesday night in Reynolds Coliseum, Bell and Bentley won. And so did UNC, beating N.C. State 16-14. In the second match of the night, with the Tar Heels (2-2, 1-0 in the ACC) down 3-0 to the Wolfpack (4-6, 0-1), Corey Bell (14-3) faced Dustin Kawa (7-8) in what looked to be an easy match.

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Peppers' Foul Shots Help UNC Torch Golden Eagles

After months of speculation, Julius Peppers made up his mind."He's decided not to enter the NBA draft -- that's the press release today," North Carolina coach Matt Doherty said following the Tar Heels' 84-54 victory against Marquette on Saturday.OK, so Doherty was joking.Peppers released a statement Thursday that said he would return to North Carolina's football team for one more year.

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