North Carolina
Virginia
Tar Heels Top Virginia 88-78 To Advance To ACC Tournament Title Game
March 9, 2003 | Women's Basketball
March 9, 2003
By JENNA FRYER
AP Sports Writer
GREENSBORO, N.C. - North Carolina had no time to celebrate its win over Virginia in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
The 11th-ranked Tar Heels were too busy Sunday crowding around a television to watch their men's team upset No. 10 Duke.
It gave them hope for Monday's championship game, where second-seeded North Carolina meets top-seeded Duke.
"I know not many people are giving us a chance against Duke, but we're going to go out and play our hearts out - and our guys just won," North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "We're going to give it all we've got"
La'Tangela Atkinson had 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Tar Heels (27-4) back into the finals for the second straight year.
The second-ranked Blue Devils (30-1) beat North Carolina in the finals last year and are trying to become the first women's team to win four straight titles.
Duke won both regular-season meetings against North Carolina, scoring a 78-67 overtime win in Chapel Hill and easily beating the Tar Heels 97-63 at home.
Asked what she'll do to prepare her team for the third meeting this season, Hatchell had a quick answer.
"Pray a lot," she quipped. "Duke doesn't have very many weaknesses, but they are human and we'll give it everything we've got."
Leah Metcalf added 17 points - she was 5-for-5 from 3-point range - for North Carolina, which made up for its 69-59 loss to Virginia in last week's regular-season finale.
Corretta Brown also scored 17 points, playing most of the second half with four fouls.
"We scored enough points to win, but we didn't play good enough defense," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "North Carolina is very active on the boards, they are great athletes, and it is very difficult to defend them."
The Tar Heels had a 57-49 rebounding advantage over third-seeded Virginia (16-13).
Cherrise Graham scored a career-high 36 points for the Cavaliers and LaTonya Blue added 13.
Graham hit all seven of her shots in the first half to help the Cavaliers keep it close - they trailed 44-41 at the break.
ut Graham was off just a little bit in the second half, missing her first five attempts as Virginia fell behind 68-55.
She eventually broke out of it, hitting a 3-pointer with 7:29 to play that cut North Carolina's lead to 68-58. She had a late flurry of baskets, hitting a 3-pointer with 47 seconds to play to cut it to 84-75. But it was too late for Virginia, which had to foul on every North Carolina possession.
Graham finished 12-of-23 from the floor and 9-of-12 at the line.
"I hit my shots, but it didn't matter how many points I scored because I think the second half defense was key in us losing," Graham said. "We weren't contesting their shots, we didn't box out."
The Tar Heels lost starting guard Nikita Bell five minutes into the game when she injured her right ankle.
That's when Atkinson took over.
"When she got hurt, I knew I had to step it up," Atkinson said.
So did Metcalf, who hit her first four 3-point attempts to help North Carolina build a 56-49 lead with Bell still on the bench.
Then Bell came back into the game, her teammates greeting her as she came clapping out onto the court with 12:45 to play. Bell responded with a driving layup that drew a foul for a 58-49 lead.
