Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

UNC women’s hoops coach Sylvia Hatchell nets 1,000th win

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame 2013 Class On Court Announcement

ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 08: Sylvia Hatchell stands on the court as the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame 2013 Class Announcement is made during the 2013 NCAA Men’s Final Four Championship between the Michigan Wolverines and the Louisville Cardinals at the Georgia Dome on April 8, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame)

Getty Images for Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell has become the third women’s Division I coach to net her 1,000th career victory.

Hatchell’s Tar Heels beat Grambling State 79-63 on Tuesday. Hatchell, who battled leukemia and was declared cancer-free in 2014, is 1,000-376 during a 43-year career that started with 11 seasons at Francis Marion.

This is her 32nd season at North Carolina, and she has led the Tar Heels to eight ACC titles, three Final Fours and the 1994 national championship.

Jamie Cherry scored 22 points and Janelle Bailey added 15 for the Tar Heels (10-2), who shot 47 percent and outscored the Tigers 60-40 over the final three quarters after falling behind early.

Hatchell is 728-286 with the Tar Heels, and another milestone could come later this season. She’s 11 wins shy of former Virginia coach Debbie Ryan’s record for most victories at an Atlantic Coast Conference women’s program.

Hatchell joined Tennessee coach Pat Summitt (1,098) and Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer (1,018) among women’s coaches in the 1,000-win club. On the men’s side, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has 1,082 victories.

Hatchell is the only coach to win national titles at the AIAW, NAIA and NCAA levels, capturing the first two of those at Francis Marion in 1982 and 1986.