Midwest and South Regions
Tar Heels Hold On, Top Central Florida
Cetera DeGraffenreid drives past Central Florida's D'Nay Daniels. The Tar Heels nearly squandered a 14-point lead.
(By Mark Humphrey -- Associated Press)
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Sunday, March 22, 2009
North Carolina Coach Sylvia Hatchell worried her team might go flat before the NCAA tournament, and the Tar Heels struggled yesterday, nearly squandering a 14-point lead in the final 30 seconds in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Heather Claytor scored a season-high 17 points while Italee Lucas and Jessica Breeland added 17 each as third-seeded North Carolina beat No. 14 seed Central Florida (17-17), 85-80, yesterday in the NCAA tournament's opening round.
Hatchell had her team play South Dakota on March 15 -- a day before the NCAA bracket announcement -- to try and keep them fresh during the two-week layoff between the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and the NCAA.
Still, the Tar Heels (28-6) still needed help from Claytor, who came off the bench averaging 3.7 points per game and hit 4 of 6 from three-point range.
-- PURDUE 65, CHARLOTTE 52: Another year, another early win for the Boilermakers in the NCAA tournament.
Danielle Campbell scored 12 points, and No. 6 seed Purdue downed the 11th-seeded 49ers (23-9) for its 12th straight first-round win, this time in the Midwest Region in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Purdue (23-10) hasn't lost in the opening round since 1996, and the Boilermakers improved to 18-2 in the first round.
They will play North Carolina tomorrow night.
-- AUBURN 85, LEHIGH 49: Southeastern Conference player of the year DeWanna Bonner and the Tigers (30-3) made the Mountain Hawks' second trip to the NCAA tournament just as short as the first one.
Bonner scored 26 points and led an early 21-3 spurt that carried second-seeded Auburn to a victory over 15th-seeded Lehigh (26-7) in a first-round game in the Midwest Region in Piscataway, N.J.
