RALEIGH — Twenty-one chairs sat to the left of the scorers table inside Broughton High School on Sunday.
Twenty of them — red frames and white cushions — housed members of the North Carolina women’s basketball team. The 21st remained empty, amplifying the absence of Coach Sylvia Hatchell, who served the first of two one-game suspensions as the Tar Heels took on N.C. State.
The last time Hatchell missed a game was when she sat out the 2013-14 season while battling leukemia. Then, UNC’s players rallied around their coach and rocketed into the Elite Eight.
But without their leader on Sunday, the Tar Heels could not find momentum, falling hard to the Wolfpack 78-49.