Despite dropping an unexpected number of games this season, North Carolina managed to get a postseason bid.

The 10th-seeded North Carolina women’s basketball team will open NCAA tournament play against No. 7-seed Gonzaga at 10:30 p.m. Saturday in the Sacramento region.

Even after winning his match, North Carolina freshman Jose Hernandez didn’t leave the court.

Instead, he hit ball after ball in a drill he calls “Speed and Power,” in which he has to return eight balls hit all over the court at him in rapid succession.

RALEIGH — Twenty seconds.

That’s all that separated North Carolina’s Kyle Kiss from a place in the 165-pound finals of the ACC Wrestling Championships and a bid to the NCAA Tournament in Omaha.

 Despite its troubles, North Carolina still got a postseason bid.

The Tar Heels, mired in a 16-16 season and a tenth-place finish in the ACC, were nonetheless too attractive a candidate for the National Invitational Tournament to pass up. UNC earned a No. 4 seed.

The Tar Heels host No. 5 seed William & Mary on Tuesday.

DURHAM — No. 11 North Carolina and Duke combined for 56 runs while splitting the first two games of their annual series, so a pitching duel wasn’t exactly what they expected in the deciding game on Sunday.

But that’s what they got, as UNC starter Colin Bates and Duke starter Dennis O’Grady prevented either side from jumping out to a big lead like in the two previous games.

GREENSBORO — During the offseason, North Carolina forward Tyler Zeller added width to his 7-foot frame so he’d be more formidable in the post.

He needed every pound against Georgia Tech’s Derrick Favors on Thursday night.

DURHAM – In Duke vs. North Carolina, there is seldom a sure thing. But Saturday’s regular season finale was never in doubt.

Duke built a 20-point lead in just 11 minutes and a 30-point lead in 26. After four straight losses to UNC in their own building, the No. 4 Blue Devils took back Cameron Indoor Stadium. Emphatically.

 

A huge smile cracked the intense face of Katrina Tsang as she pounded away the final serve of her single’s match.

She worked unceasingly to clinch the win, but North Carolina’s clean  7-0 score against N.C. State would not hint at the battle its players fought.

No. 2 UNC (13-1, 1-0 ACC) bested the Wolfpack for its third straight 7-0 victory, and the 12th consecutive match defeating N.C. State in regular season play.

GREENSBORO – Foul trouble kept Maryland’s Lynetta Kizer on the sidelines for most of the Terrapins’ opening round game of the ACC Tournament.

But her 22 minutes on the court were more than enough for Maryland to send North Carolina packing.

This Saturday night, it’s chapter two in the 2010 edition of the North Carolina-Duke rivalry.

The Tar Heels are on their first win streak of 2010, with wins against Wake Forest and Miami. The Blue Devils have a No. 4 national ranking and at least a share of the regular-season conference title locked up despite a stinging loss at Maryland on Wednesday night.

What is delayed is not denied.

It’s a simple phrase, but one that resonates deeply with both Jessica Breland and Sylvia Hatchell.

Life in the Bahamas never fostered Waltiea Rolle’s ambitions of becoming a basketball star. In fact, it never even introduced her the game.

But that could not deter the scouts who recruited her to come play high school ball in the United States in 2005.

“They had a vision that this kid can be a great basketball player,” her high school coach Reed Sutton said. “Before she ever did.”

For two hours on Tuesday night, a North Carolina basketball team was performing what many take for granted as a simple Tar Heel duty: making history.

On that night at least, UNC was not a team on the brink of missing out on the NIT. It was another group writing its chapter in Tar Heel lore.

With the 69-62 win against visiting Miami, North Carolina became the second basketball program to win 2,000 games.