BOSTON -- North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell earned her 900th career victory when the No. 16 Tar Heels beat Boston College 80-52 on Thursday night.
Xylina McDaniel had 15 points and seven rebounds for North Carolina (21-3, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Tar Heels lost to No. 5 Duke on Sunday -- their first home loss of the season -- spoiling Hatchell's first chance to become the third women's coach in NCAA history to reach the milestone.
Hatchell joins Pat Summitt and Jody Conradt in the women's 900-win club. Hatchell is tops among active coaches, with Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer two wins behind.
Only three men's coaches have reached the 900-win mark -- Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim and Bob Knight.
Nicole Boudreau scored 16 points and Kristen Doherty added 13 with seven rebounds for Boston College (9-13, 3-8), which has lost six of its last seven games.
BC stayed close for about eight minutes before the Tar Heels went on a 15-2 run to turn a two-point lead into a double-digit advantage.
As the Tar Heels reserves dribbled out the last 10 seconds, Hatchell's assistant leaned over to give her a peck on the cheek and the referee leaned over toward the bench to say something. A handful of Carolina blue-clad fans in the sparse crowd stood to cheer when the public address announcer recognized the milestone.
Hatchell, 60, is 900-317 in 38 seasons, including a 628-237 record and the 1994 NCAA championship in 27 years at North Carolina. She was 272-80 in 11 seasons at Francis Marion.
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt scored 14 with six rebounds and six assists and Krista Gross had 12 points and eight rebounds for Carolina, which beat Boston College 77-46 last year but needed a last-second tip-in to beat BC the last time the teams met in Chestnut Hill, in 2011.
The Tar Heels led by as many as 17 points late in the first half, then used a 15-4 run early in the second to open a 27-point lead. They scored seven in a row to make it a 64-32 game with about 11 minutes left.
