With 20 minutes remaining in the April 17 game against Duke UNC midfielder Jenn Russell lay face down near the UNC goal. Team captain Amber Falcone sat next to her frantically waving at the Tar Heel sideline for assistance.
With less than five seconds remaining in a tied East Regional Championship Villanova's Scottie Reynolds scampered across halfcourt. Instead of settling for a pull-up from outside he ducked through the lane — easily crossing over Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair in the process.
Twice in two days the North Carolina women's lacrosse team took the field to play Northwestern. Problem was Monday's was the only game that counted. After the Tar Heels took a 4-2 lead in the original contest Sunday a weather-induced cancellation forced the rescheduled game Monday to start at 0-0.
Every practice North Carolina women's lacrosse coach Jenny Levy tries to start the team's workout with an up-tempo drill. Not only does it force a pace that most teams can't endure but the speed of play creates scoring chances for UNC right away.
The questions persisted all week. What would North Carolina do against Duke without Erlana Larkins and LaToya Pringle? With the Blue Devils sporting all-everything Chante Black in the post the doubts were well-deserved.
For more than 14 minutes Sunday against N.C. Central Italee Lucas couldn't miss. Five times she hoisted up 3-point shots and five times the net swished true. About the only thing hotter than her effort was the play of No. 10 North Carolina (19-3) as a whole and the Tar Heels crushed the Lady Eagles 98-45 on 54.9 percent shooting.
Jessica Breland stood waiting directly at halfcourt. Opposite her Wake Forest's Courteney Morris dribbled the ball to meet her at the start of another second-half possession.
With Clay Donato's doubles contest at match point a hard-flying return came from James Madison's Jared Robinson. Effortlessly Donato calmly stepped forward and whipped a liner perfectly inside the left baseline.
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