Tracking the Tar Heels, Mar. 30

Welcome to a dynamic Monday edition of Tracking the Tar Heels.

Let's see what the Tar Heels have been up to:

• Assistant Editor Pat James explores the frustrated yet optimistic mindset of the women's basketball team, following its 67-65 loss to top-seeded South Carolina on Friday.
• The game came down to one final shot, as Assistant Editor Brendan Marks describes, with Jamie Cherry's off-balance three missing wide to drop the Tar Heels' Sweet 16 rematch with the Gamecocks.
• In another battle between rivals, Logan Ulrich tells how the men's lacrosse team rode the steady play of goalkeeper Kieran Burke to take down defending champion Duke in Sunday's 15-14 affair.
• But the Tar Heels could not have win without the unmatched contributions of their three star seniors, who came through for UNC in an instant classic, Patrick Ronan explains.
• The men's swimming and diving team also relied on its upperclassmen, including six All-Americans who led UNC to an 18th place finish in the NCAA Championship meet over the weekend, writes Joey DeVito.
• The softball team leaned on its hitting to erase a four-game losing streak, defeating Virginia three straight games over the weekend, David Allen Jr. recounts.
• But as Evan Chronis notes, the weekend was all about prolific hitter "Downtown" Kristen Brown, who hit a UNC single-season record-setting 17th home run in Sunday's game.
• The baseball team was not so fortunate, as Jeremy Vernon writes, dropping two of three games at the expense of the bullpen in a weekend series against Miami.
• The bright spot of the series was the hitting in the third game, converting with runners on base to drive home 10 runs, C Jackson Cowart details.
• In the women's tennis team's victory over Clemson on Friday, Coach Brian Kalbas reached his 500th career win in dramatic 4-3 fashion, Michael Freije writes.
• On the men's side, David Adler reveals how UNC had to settle with a moral victory after dropping two matches over the weekend without top-player Brayden Schnur.
• Senior Writer Danielle Herman describes how one centimeter was the difference in junior Sarah Howard reaching her shot put goal over the weekend.
• It wasn't as close for the women's golf team, which finished seventh over the weekend despite windy conditions on a tough course, Chandler Carpenter explains.
• But difficult conditions couldn't stop Erica Patella from claiming first for the UNC rowing team in one of the Tar Heels' two top finishes in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, Kayleigh Payne details.