North Carolina

No. 1 Virginia (9-1) at No. 4 North Carolina (8-3) Saturday, noon Outlook: The winner of this contest figures to be in the driver's seat to claim the top seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The Cavaliers bounced back nicely from an overtime loss to then-No. 2 Johns Hopkins with a convincing 12-8 victory over No. 11 Maryland. But they run into a Tar Heels squad that knocked the Blue Jays from the ranks of the unbeaten and appears to have put back-to-back losses to Lehigh and Penn in the rearview mirror.

The milestones keep clicking off for the Maryland women's lacrosse team. Unbeaten regular season? Done. Fifth consecutive ACC tournament championship and 10th overall? Done. A run at an 11th NCAA championship? Stay tuned. The No. 1-ranked Terps (19-0) maintained their ACC supremacy Sunday night, dispatching homestanding North Carolina 12-8 in a steady rain at Fetzer Field. Brooke Griffin (South River), Taylor Cummings (McDonogh) and Beth Glaros (Wilde Lake) each had a hat trick, and Katie Schwarzmann (Century)

With a one-goal lead heading into the final minutes of its game, Maryland pushed the ball into Colgate's territory hoping to get one more score to solidify its lead. The team congested the Raiders' goal, and Terps teammates David Kabelik and John Stertzer were able to find an open Patrick Mullins, who was able to sink the second goal in the 85th minute of Tuesday's game. Mullins, a junior forward and the team leader in goals (eight), assists (seven) and points (23), and striker Jake Pace said the No. 1 Terps' (12-0-1, 5-0 ACC)

After opening the season with four consecutive wins, No. 12 North Carolina has sustained losses to a pair of unranked teams in Lehigh (now No. 15) on Saturday and Penn on Tuesday. The trend is slightly alarming for a team expected to contend for a national championship after featuring a pair of celebrated transfers in attackmen Jack McBride (Princeton) and Davey Emala (Georgetown), but coach Joe Breschi said team morale has not changed. “I'd say the biggest thing for us is continuing to find out where the pieces fit,” he said.

With Loyola repeatedly knocking it off balance, North Carolina struggled to find solid footing in the first half of Saturday's NCAA tournament second-round game against the Greyhounds. North Carolina would score. Loyola would then counter. North Carolina would score again. Loyola would then counter again. It wasn't until junior Laura Zimmerman scored just as the half expired that the Tar Heels had a toe hold they could use to lift them over Loyola and into the semifinals of the NCAA tournament.

- For most of Saturday's women's lacrosse showdown between No. 1 Maryland and No. 2 North Carolina, the Tar Heels managed to keep Maryland from generating their trademark run. In a game that was tied eight times, the Tar Heels slowed the pace early with their deliberate offense, but when the Terps get rolling, they can put up goals in hurry. A four-goal spurt early in the second half provided the momentum behind Maryland's 14-13 victory in the clash of Atlantic Coast Conference rivals.

During the three weeks since their last loss, the members of the 10th-ranked Maryland women's basketball team rolled through five opponents with an eye toward a rematch against the Atlantic Coast Conference rival that beat them. The Terps opened a double-digit lead Thursday night over No. 15 North Carolina in the first half and turned the game into a runaway in an 85-59 victory at Comcast Center. Senior forward Tianna Hawkins' game-high 25 points led four Maryland players in double figures, and the ACC's leading scorer added eight rebounds in the Terrapins' sixth straight win and 12th in 13 games.

If Maryland plays North Carolina on Wednesday half as well as it did the last time a monster snowfall hit the region, Mark Turgeon will be a happy man. With weather forecasters calling for up to a foot or more of snow starting tonight and into tomorrow, it brought back memories of the Terps' famous 92-71 rout of the Tar Heels at Comcast Center in February 2010. I covered it, and it was the wildest frat-house atmosphere I've ever seen at a basketball game. They called that storm “Snowmageddon” or “Snowpocalypse.” The roads were a mess, and at first, Maryland officials were actually telling fans not to drive to the game.

Here are thoughts on Maryland's victory over No. 2 Duke and a look ahead to the Terps' matchup with North Carolina today in the ACC tournament semifinals: Do good things come to those who wait? Maybe it's fortunate for Maryland that college basketball seasons are long. Terps fans waited this season -- not always patiently -- for young Maryland to grow up. Dez Wells said Maryland is “peaking” at just the right time. We'll see if the Terps can sustain their development.