North Carolina senior Jessica Breland missed practice on Thursday as she recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery last week.

Breland had two "loose bodies" removed from her left knee and missed  UNC's game at Maryland on Sunday. The No. 15 Tar Heels fell 88-65 to the No. 14 Terrapins and were at a disadvantage on the boards without the 6-foot-3 forward from Kelford.

After missing practice on Thursday, it's highly likely that Breland will miss Friday's game against Virginia, though she is listed as day-to-day and could be inserted as a game-time decision.

Staff photo by Chuck Liddy

North Carolina senior Jessica Breland has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and is undergoing treatment at UNC Hospitals, Breland's family and UNC announced today.

According to a news release, Breland is being treated with chemotherapy.

“The last few weeks have been a really emotional time for me, but I’ve got a very positive attitude about my treatment and I’m looking forward to getting healthy and getting back to playing basketball as soon as possible,” Breland said in a statement.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jessica Breland scored 29 points and second-ranked North Carolina held No. 18 Ohio State scoreless for more than nine minutes of the second half to take a 72-63 victory Wednesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Breland, averaging 13.5 points a game, had 21 in the opening half as the Tar Heels (9-0) opened a 41-37 lead. Cetera DeGraffenreid added 14 points and six assists and Rashanda McCants had 10 points for North Carolina, which improved to 21-9 against the Big Ten and evened its
record against the Buckeyes at 3-3.

The Tar Heels sealed the outcome with a 17-0 second-half run.

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Jessica Breland scored a career-high 31 points — including two key buckets in the final two minutes — as No. 4 North Carolina held off No. 2 Oklahoma 80-79 on Sunday in the title game of the Women's Preseason NIT.

After North Carolina's Rashanda McCants missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw chance with 7.2 seconds left, Oklahoma (3-1) had a chance to win on the final possession, but Danielle Robinson's running 6-footer went over the rim as time expired.

North Carolina (5-0) has played in 13 games involving two top-five teams since the start of the 2005-06 season and raised its record to 7-6 in such matchups.