DALLAS, March 25 — While one Washington-area team upset the University of North Carolina Sunday to advance in the NCAA tournament, another fell short. As Georgetown reached the Final Four on the men’s side, the Tar Heels moved into the Elite Eight on the women’s end with a 70-56 win over GW in front of an announced crowd of 3,875 at Reunion Arena in Dallas.

The rebounding margin, a 45-22 difference favoring the Tar Heels, is enough to see where the Colonials went wrong. The loss ends the Colonials’ season at 28-4 after marching through the Atlantic 10 conference’s regular season undefeated. GW reached the Round of 16 of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1997.

“They (grabbed) a lot of offensive boards,” junior Sarah-Jo Lawrence said of the Tar Heels’ 21-6 offensive advantage. “We knew that was a key to win and we didn’t take care of that and that’s a reason why we lost.”

For GW, Lawrence was the lone star in the Lone Star state with 23 points, a career high. It was the first time all season the Colonials had just one player with double-digit scoring. North Carolina found its scoring from multiple sources, with three scoring at least 10 points and another two with nine.

Junior LaToya Pringle had 16 points, 10 from the charity stripe, and 14 rebounds. All-American Ivory Latta’s nine points were a step down from her average of 16.4 points per game, but junior Erlana Larkins’ 14 points and Camille Little’s 10 points were there instead. North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said that Latta’s performance, although not statistically high, was still important in her team’s victory.

“When Ivory’s running our team and setting them up and pushing the tempo, that’s a pretty good game,” Hatchell said of her point guard.

The up-tempo style, a staple of North Carolina’s play, caused problems for the Colonials, a team known for its defense and tendency to slow down games.

“They make you play fast, play out of your rhythm,” McKeown said. “It’s just tough to recreate that in a game.”

“We felt that we could disrupt them defensively,” Hatchell added. “The up-tempo game, we wanted to do that. We had the tempo we wanted. That played into our hands.”

Foul trouble also plagued the Colonials, as junior Whitney Allen was whistled for three fouls in the first seven minutes, limiting the Colonials’ most consistent defender’s floor time in the first half. Lawrence played with four fouls for most of the second half. Sophomore Jazmine Adair fouled out with a little more than four minutes remaining followed by Lawrence’s departure a minute later.

Tears flowed as senior Kenan Cole checked out of the game for the last time. She hugged McKeown first, followed by every other coach and then all of her teammates. For Cole, the Sweet 16 marked her end of the road, but she said she doesn’t think it’s the end for everyone else on her squad.

“This is a great team. I’ve had a great time with them all year and I know next year they’re going to come back,” Cole said. “It’s sad to leave them, but I’m excited to follow them because I know they’re going to go further next year.”

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