March 15, 2007

PITTSBURGH --- North Carolina (30-3) begins its march to Cleveland Sunday afternoon when the top-seeded Tar Heels face the 16th-seeded Prairie View A&M Panthers at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. Carolina earned the automatic bid from the Atlantic Coast Conference for the third straight season by defeating NC State 60-54 on March 4. Prairie View (19-13) is the automatic qualifier from the Southwestern Athletic Conference after the Panthers defeated Jackson State 68-62 on March 10. The Tar Heels are ranked No. 3 in the nation in the AP poll and No. 2 in the coaches poll. Prairie View is unranked.

AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 30-3, Prairie View A&M 19-13
Rankings: North Carolina is ranked No. 3 in the AP poll and No. 2 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Prairie View is unranked.
TV: ESPN2. Linda Cohn (play-by-play), Fran Fraschilla (analyst) and Wendi Nix (sideline) have the call.
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network, a division of Learfield Communications. Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play) and Jan Boxill (analyst) have the call.
Websites: TarHeelBlue.com (North Carolina); sports.pvamu.edu (Prairie View)

PRAIRIE VIEW SERIES NOTES
• North Carolina and Prairie View A&M have never met in women's basketball.

POSSIBLE SECOND-ROUND MATCHUPS
• The winner of the UNC-Prairie View game will meet the winner of the Cal-Notre Dame matchup.
• North Carolina is 2-1 all-time against California and 0-2 all-time against Notre Dame.
• The Tar Heels have not faced either team in NCAA Tournament play.

CAROLINA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• UNC enters the tournament as a No. 1 seed for the fourth time in school history and the third season in a row. Carolina was also a No. 1 seed in 1997.
• Carolina is 12-3 all-time in NCAA first-round games with its last loss coming to Middle Tennessee in 2004.
• The Tar Heels are 13-16 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played away from Chapel Hill.
• Carolina is 29-13 in NCAA Tournament play in 14 previous appearances under coach Sylvia Hatchell. UNC has an all-time NCAA record of 31-17 in 18 overall appearances and was the 1994 NCAA Champion.