European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 28, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday March 28 2007 stars and stripes Pringle leads tar heels to Dallas regional final Mcaa women the associated press Dallas Latoya pringles mom was counting the blocked shots knowing her daughter needed three to set a North Caro Lina season record she had four by halftime and the tar heels pretty much had their spot in the regional finals by then too North Carolina went on a 225 surge while George Washington defensive Dynamo Whitney Allen was on the Bench in foul Trou ble Midway through the first half then Rode that Lead to a 7056 Victory sunday night in the Semi finals of the Dallas regional the to seeded tar heels 333 led by 14 at halftime fifth seeded George Washington 284 scored the opening Basket of the second half but got no closer trailing by As Many As 22 North Carolina is headed to the regional finals for the third straight year the tar heels will have a 12 showdown tuesday night against Purdue which advanced ear Lier sunday with a 7865 Victory Over geor Gia a Victory would give the North Carolina women a spot in the final four were Happy to be where we Are but we know we have our work Cut out for us unc coach Sylvia Hatcher said North Carolina has been knocked out by the eventual National Champion each of the past two years hat Hells club could be the ones cutting Down the nets this time the Way they counter the nations to scoring offence with a swarming defense the tar heels had 16 steals Many com ing Between Hal court and the three Point line to prevent George Washington from setting up its offence and out rebounded the colonials by 23 at halftime North Carolina Power for Ward Erlanna Larkins had As Many assists 6 As the entire George Washington team coach Hatchell wanted us to dominate from the beginning and that what we did said Larkins who finished with 14 Points six rebounds five steals and six assists Pringle had 16 Points and 14 rebounds plus four blocks giving her 116 for the sea son the 6foot3 Junior also is no 2 on the schools career list Likely to move up to the top spot late next season she gives us so much Hatchell said Shes a great shot locker and defensively Shes so Tough in there Shes just a really solid player Sarahjo Lawrence led the colonials with 23 Points before fouling out with left fans chanted her name As she went to the Bench covering her head in a Towel then sobbing into it Kimberly Beck had six Points five steals but also five turnovers while playing 40 minutes for George Washington they trapped when we got to Hal court and we  execute our offence Beck said George Washington never led the Colo Nials also had to work hard for practically every Point their first and Only fast break Points came with left when they Al ready were Down 20 Points we  take them out of what they wanted to do coach Joe Mckeown said i told them at halftime to get it Down to 10 and wed have a great Opportunity to win but Carolina makes you play fast and at their Pace it was a Tough end to one of the Best sea sons in school history George Washington tied the record for victories set by the 1997 club and was hop ing to break it by beating North Carolina to Advance to the regional finals a feat the 97 club pulled off both teams showed off their defensive in Tensity from the Start with George Washington forcing seven turnovers Early North Carolina countered by forcing two misses and three steals Dallas regional Purdue 78 Georgia 65 Katie Gearlds had 30 Points and nine rebounds to help Purdue overcome a big Early deficit Lindsay Wisdo Hylton had 24 Points on 8for12 shooting and nine rebounds while Danielle Campbell had 11 Points for pm North Carolina Forward Latoya Pringle 30 looks to take a shot Over George washing ton guard Sarahjo Lawrence 32 sunday Purdue which won its 10th straight game Gearlds connected on 10 of 16 shots including four three pointers Tasha Humphrey had 20 Points to Lead Georgia which was in the round of 16 for the fifth straight season Sakic reaches Milestone in critical win nil scoreboard Eastern conference rangers 2 islanders 1 of the associated press Vancouver British Colum Bia trailing by two goals with their playoff Hopes hanging in the balance the Colorado Avalanche never thought of giving up Brett Mclean scored his Sec Ond goal late in the second period and Joe Sakic tied it with his Sec Ond of the game Midway through the third period Mclean then capped the comeback with the Only goal of the shootout snap Ping a shot under Roberto Luon gos Glove for a crucial 54 win Over the Vancouver canucks on sunday night we Haven quit during this whole stretch and its not going to Start now Sakic said weve been Down before and Guys dont quit in Here the Avalanche improved to 1002 in their last 12 games to stay five Points behind Calgary for the final playoff spot with two games left against the flames we were definitely a Desper ate team tonight and that the Type of attitude we have to bring for every single shift Mclean said we executed Well and did the things weve done to get Back into this playoff race Jose Theodore playing his first game in a month after Peter was pulled in the first period stopped Trevor Linden Bren Dan Morrison and Daniel Sedin in the shootout to preserve his first win since feb 6 it was his Only real Busy stretch All night after coming in when Colorado trailed 31 Theodore faced Only four shots in the second and third periods combined As the Ava Lanche shut things Down defensively meanwhile at the other end Mclean sparked the come Back by scoring in the final 2 min utes of the first two periods we really bottled it up and played Well defensively Sakic said and obviously Jose you can t give him enough credit he Hast played a lot lately and he was Good for us especially in the shootout Taylor Pyatt had two goals and Daniel Sedin and Jeff Cowan also scored for the canucks who lost for the first time in five games and failed to Clinch a playoff spot Vancouver did move into a tie with Minnesota atop the North West division and can still claim a postseason berth with a win in Colorado on tuesday it would have been Nice to win said Luongo who made 26 saves but failed Seal his first play off appearance in seven nil sea sons All in All we know Well make the playoffs but we just want to finish first in our division it was a night of milestones for both teams Sakic scored both his goals in similar fashion sneaking into the Slot to convert a pass from an Drew Brunette extending his Point Streak to six games seven goals and six assists and brunettes to eight one goal and 13 Sakic moved into a tie with former teammate Ray Bourque for ninth on the career Points list with 1579 and into a 15thplace tie with Dino Ciccarelli on the career goal list with 610 its an Honor to be with those Guys but theres a lot More important stuff right now and that for us to try and make the playoffs Sakic said Henrik Sedin had three assists for 63 this season moving one ahead of Andres Bourdais fran Chise record set in 197475 five years before Henrik was born it was a Long time Henrik said of the 32yearold record i think it will be something Nice to think Back on after the season and after my career Pyatt also registered his first Ca reer 20goal season none of the achievements provided Consolation to canucks head coach Alain Vigneault in hoping there As disappointed or embarrassed As i am about this performance tonight he said Pyatt opened the scoring mid Way through the first Sakic tied it 3 minutes later but Daniel Sedin jammed the puck past Budaj on a Power play with left in the first period and Cowan made it 31 from a Sharp Angle just 75 seconds later that ended Burdajs night after 10 stops Theodore came off the Bench and barely had time to get Loose before his teammates closed the Gap to one goal mcleans Long shot off the boards appeared to change direction off a skate before going Between la Ongos legs 16 seconds later we got Down and it want looking that Good for a while but we got the second one there the Mclean goal and kind of got on a Roll again Sakic said Blue jackets 4 blues 1 at co Lumbus Ohio Fredrik Modin scored his 20th goal of the season and 400th Point of his career for the Blue jackets Manny Malhotra added a goal and an assist for the Blue jackets who got 25 saves from Fredrik nor Rena in their third straight win Derrick Walser and Geoff Platt also scored and Jason chimera had three assists Doug weight scored for st Louis which has lost three of four a Buffalo new Jersey Atlanta Ottawa Pittsburgh by rangers Tampa Bay l of pts of a 48 20 7 103 282 224 44 23 8 96 197 187 39 27 10 88 229 232 45 23 8 98 267 207 43 23 10 96 259 229 39 28 9 87 219 198 41 31 4 86 235 240 38 29 8 84 225 rangers 010 12 by islanders 00101 second period by rangers Orr 2 third period2 by islanders Yashin 15 Poti nyran9ers Nylander 23 Shanahan w 12108434 by islanders Montreal Toronto Florida Boston Washington 27 12 84 225 218 39 31 6 84 225 235 36 29 10 82 232 242 31 30 14 76 222 239 34 35 6 74 206 265 26 37 13 65 224 270 20 44 11 51 194 islanders opportunities by rangers l of 7 by islanders 1 of 9 goalies by rangers Lundqvist 34217 35 shots34 by islanders Dipietro a16234 Western conference flames 3 Blackhawk 2 a Nashville a Anaheim Vancouver Detroit Minnesota Dallas san Jose l of pts of a 48 21 7 103 255 197 44 19 12 100 240 194 45 23 7 97 203 185 45 19 11 101 232 188 45 24 7 97 221 183 45 24 6 204 183 46 26 4 96 235 185 40 25 10 90 239 i u Chicago 2 o first period Calgary Juselius 32 Igina 2 Chicago Wrbata 12 3 Chicago Arkhipova 10 Seabrook third period4 Calgary Yelle 9 Phaneuf 48 5 Calgary hamrlik 6 Lombardi shots on goal Calgary 1210830 Chica Colorado st Louis Columbus Edmonton los Angeles Phoenix 29 7 85 251 233 31 32 12 74 195 232 31 37 7 69 188 228 31 38 7 69 186 229 26 36 14 66 215 261 29 41 5 63 201 259 27 39 9 63 185 of 4 goalie Calgary Kip Rusoff 37219 31 shots29 Chicago Khabibulin 23245 a10178 Iwu ii a win one Point ror Over time loss or shootout loss division Leader clinched playoff spot sundays games Pittsburgh 5 Boston 0 by rangers 2 by islanders 1 of Calgary 3 Chicago 2 Columbus 4 st Louis 1 Colorado 5 Vancouver 4 so mondays games Anaheim at Detroit n tuesdays games Pittsburgh at Washington Florida at Tampa Bay Boston at Ottawa by rangers at Montreal Carolina at Toronto new Jersey at by islanders Calgary at Minnesota Edmonton at Nashville Columbus at st Louis Phoenix at Dallas Vancouver at Colorado los Angeles at san Jose sunday penguins 5 Bruins 0 Boston o o Pittsburgh 3 i 15 first period Pittsburgh Malkin 32 gon Char 2 Pittsburgh Cros by 33 Gonchar Pps Pitts Burgh Roberts 17 Crosby second period4 Pittsburgh Malone 16 Staal third period5 Pittsburgh Crosby 34 Armstrong shots on Goa Boston 138829 Pitts Burgh 991028 Power play opportunities Boston 0 of 5 Pittsburgh 3 of 6 goalie Boston Thomas 30264 9 Macdonald second Pittsburgh Fleury 36158 a17132 Blue jackets 4 blues 1 st Louis l n 01 Columbus 2 l 14 first period Columbus walser2 chimera Eriksson 2 st Louis weight 13 of Metropolit 3 Colum bus Malhotra 8 second period4 Columbus Modin 20 Vyborny Columbus platt4 chimera shots on goals Louis 871126 Colum dus Power play opportunities st Louis 1 of 8 Columbus 1 of 3 goalies st Louis Bacashihua 152 26 shots22 Columbus Norrena 22193 a16007 Avalanche 5 canucks 4 so Colorado 21105 Vancouver 3 l o 04 Colorado won shootout 10 first period Vancouver Pyatt 19 a seem Colorado Sakic 33 Brunette 3 Vancouver a seem 33 Shedin 4 Vancouver Cowan 7 Cooke Colorado Mclean second period6 Vancouver Pyatt 20 a seem 7 Colorado Mclean 14 third penpd8 Colorado Sakic 34 Bru Nette shootout Colorado 1 Mclean g Hejduk Vancouver 0 Linden no Morrison no a seem shots on Joa Colorado 8129130 Van Couver 1322320 Power play opportunities Colorado 1 of 5 Vancouver 1 of 3 goalie Colorado Budaj 13 shots10 Theodore 12141 first Vancouver Luongo 43206 a18630