TOWSON, Md. – Sammy Jo Tracy scored with 4:48 left in double overtime to lift No. 2 North Carolina to a 15-14 win over the Towson University women's lacrosse team on Sunday afternoon in Johnny Unitas ® Stadium. Seven Tigers scored in the heartbreaker including freshman midfielder Emily Gillingham, who gave the Tigers a lead in overtime.

"This was almost that break through game for us, we're right there," said Towson Head Coach Sonia LaMonica. "I'm so proud of how our girls stepped up today. We could have regressed after the last one but they stepped up and responded and I'm so pleased. This was a heartbreaker, we had them and had a few areas where our stick work let them back in."

The Tigers and Tar Heels each scored a pair of goals in the game's first 22 minutes and were tied at 2-2 with 22:34 to play in the half. The two teams traded goals over the next several minutes as Gillingham's first collegiate goal at 12:31 gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead. However UNC (8-1) scored the final three goals of the half to take a 6-4 lead at the break. Sydney Holman had a goal and an assist during that stretch.

North Carolina outshot the Tigers 13-8 in the first half and won eight of the 11 draw controls in the half. Senior goalkeeper Kelsea Donnelly made five first half saves including three on free position shots.

The Tar Heels continued their scoring run with the first three goals of the second half. North Carolina held a 9-4 lead with 21:09 to play in regulation. Redshirt senior attacker Andi Raymond scored off a pass from junior midfielder Breanna Hamm at 19:46 to break up the Tar Heels' run and snap a 22:45 scoreless streak for the home team. Just 1:26 later, senior attacker Sarah Maloof pulled the Tigers to within three, 9-6. Molly Hendrick pushed the North Carolina lead back to four, 10-6 with 17:09 to go in regulation.

Back-to-back goals from Raymond and redshirt sophomore midfielder Michelle Gildea pulled the Tigers to within two, 10-8 and were part of a 4-1 run over a span of 4:01. Freshman attacker Erika Cavallo then scored three straight goals which gave the Tigers an 11-10 lead with 12:56 left in regulation. Cavallo's third goal capped a 5-0 run by the Tigers that took 3:03 and gave Towson its first lead since 12:31 of the first half.

A North Carolina goal from Marie McCool at 11:39 tied the game at 11-11. Back-to-back goals from Raymond and Gildea gave Towson a 13-11 lead with 5:49 to go in regulation. That gave Towson (2-2) its first two goal lead since 24:03 of the first half. Hendrick scored on a free position goal at 3:53 which made it a one-goal game, 13-12. The Tigers had the ball with 33 seconds to play in regulation, but North Carolina forced a turnover on the clear attempt. Aly Messinger scored the game-tying goal with seven seconds to play.

North Carolina held a 15-13 edge in shots in the second half while the Tigers won 13 of the 17 draw controls in the second stanza. At one point, Towson won 11 straight draw controls.

In overtime, Gillingham scored her second of the day and gave Towson a 14-13 lead with 4:21 to go. With 46 seconds left in overtime, Tracy was able to bounce a shot past Donnelly and tie the game at 14-14.

In the second extra session, North Carolina won the draw control and got off two quick shots that Donnelly saved. However, the Tar Heels were able to corral the ground ball on the second shot and Messinger hit Tracy with a pass that she turned into the game-winner with 4:48 left in double overtime.

North Carolina out shot the Tigers 4-3 in the extra session and finished the game with a 32-24 advantage in that category. Towson won three of the five draw controls in overtime and finished the game with a 19-14 edge.

Caylee Waters played 44:03 of the game in goal for the Tar Heels and made two saves to earn the win. Megan Ward made one save in 23:09 of action. Donnelly finished with a season-high 11 saves in the loss for the Tigers.

Raymond and sophomore midfielder Samantha Brookhart led the Tigers with five points each. Raymond had four goals and an assist while Brookhart tallied her first goal of the season and a career-high four assists. Cavallo had her first career hat trick while Gillingham had two goals and an assist. Gildea had two goals and an assist while Maloof had a goal and two assists. Hamm and freshman midfielder Maddie Tribbe each collected six draw controls in the contest.

Hendrick led North Carolina with two goals and two assists while Messinger and Tracy each had three goals.

Towson is back in action when it begins its Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) title defense on Wednesday, March 18. The Tigers make the trip up I-95 to take on Delaware at 6 p.m.