With seeds determined, an opponent selected and a travel site chosen, Duke women’s basketball coach Joanne P. McCallie pushed aside all of the uncertainties on Monday night and begin the business of preparing for an NCAA tournament championship.

“Let’s go,” she said. “Let’s get after it. Let’s celebrate who we are. Let’s be a great team.”

The sixth-ranked Blue Devils (24-5) earned a No. 2 seed in the Fresno Regional and head to Nashville, Tenn., to face No. 15 seed Samford in the first round on Sunday. They earned their 18th consecutive trip to the tournament and must go win on the road at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium.

Meanwhile, North Carolina and N.C. State were not chosen by the NCAA tournament selection committee for the field of 64 teams. Neither will have a chance to make a run to this season’s Final Four in Denver on April 1-3.

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell goes after her 600th career victory at the school when Clemson visits Carmichael Arena on Thursday.

In her 26th season at UNC, Hatchell would join only two other ACC women's basketball coaches with 600 conference wins: former N.C. State coach Kay Yow and former Virginia coach Debbie Ryan.

"Been here a long time," said Hatchell, whose career record over 37 seasons is 871-306.

North Carolina women's basketball senior guard She'la White remains questionable for Thursday's ACC contest against Clemson.

White, who injured her left ankle in the team's upset victory over Miami on Jan. 2, missed her second straight game against Maryland on Sunday. 

White may test the ankle against the Tigers, as the No. 22 Tar Heels (12-3, 2-1 ACC) try to hand coach Sylvia Hatchell her 600th career victory at UNC. 

Hatchell, in her 37th career season, has more than 800 career victories and is a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She started in Chapel Hill in 1986.

CHAPEL HILL – The University of North Carolina announced contract extensions this afternoon for men's basketball coach Roy Williams, baseball coach Mike Fox and women’s basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell.
 
Chancellor Holden Thorp and the UNC Board of Trustees approved the new contracts, all three of which were extended through 2018, according to a release issued by the university athletic department.

UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell spoke to the N&O today about Kay Yow. Here's what she had to say:

"Kay was a treasure to me. She was a jewel of a person, a coach, but more so a friend. I was able to go spend some time with her Wednesday before we left for Georgia Tech. That was a real special time for me. I did most of the talking because she was so weak. We just had a special moment together where I just talked to her about coaching, basketball, life in general. But more than anything else, just how special she was and all the things she had done for me, women's basketball and people in general."

And I thought UNC Chapel Hill's last chancellor was the keyboard guru.

Last night at the women's basketball game between UNC Chapel Hill and the University of Connecticut, Carolina Chancellor Holden Thorp provided the musical accompaniment for the National Anthem. He played the keyboards in support of Terri Houston, the university's director of recruitment and multicultural programs, who belted out a powerful rendition of the anthem that drew raves as it crescendoed to its conclusion.

Thorp became chancellor last summer, succeeding James Moeser, an accomplished organist. I was curious about how Thorp and Houston put their act together; turns out they perform from time to time, as you can see in this photo of the two of them from a campus event from last year called Fallfest.

I e-mailed the chancellor late last night and he was gracious enough to fire back some answers. 

Click "Read More" for all the details.

North Carolina romped past Carson-Newman, 114-64, in the Tar Heels' first public exhibition game of the 2008-2009 women's basketball season.

UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell used the game to experiment with future line-ups and evaluate her freshman class.

Listen to Hatchell talk about her team's progress as they prepare for the season-opener against Western Carolina on Nov. 14.

North Carolina women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell has signed a contract extension that carriers her through to 2015.

According to a statement released today by the university, UNC's Board of Trustees approved a seven-year deal for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame coach that starts this month.

Hatchell's agent, John Meadows, said the package will improve her salary this year to $705,000 from $476,000, making her one of the highest paid women's coaches in the nation.