University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-ODU AP Preview
December 30, 2004 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2004
Seventh-ranked North Carolina will try to remain unbeaten at home this season as it faces Old Dominion at the Dean E. Smith Center on Thursday.
The Tar Heels (10-1) are 6-0 at home this season, with each of those victories coming at the Carmichael Auditorium. This game was originally scheduled for that facility, but was moved to the Dean E. Smith Center to accommodate the men's football team playing in the Continental Tire Bowl.
This is the first of three games at the Smith Center for the Tar Heels, who will also host NCAA Tournament first- and second-round games on March 20 and 22. The Tar Heels are 12-9 at the Smith Center all-time.
North Carolina has won three straight overall, including a 91-45 home decision over defending Atlantic Sun Conference champion Lipscomb on Tuesday.
Freshman Erlana Larkins recorded her first double-double with a season-high 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels. She shot 11-of-16 from the field, and has hit 71 percent (62-of-87) this season.
Larkins, who moved into the starting lineup for the last three games after coming off the bench for the first eight, leads the team in scoring at 15.1 points per contest.
"She's just a coach's dream," North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said of Larkins. "She plays hard all the time, and she's so coachable. She just gets an A-plus all-around."
Larkins is one of four players averaging double figures for North Carolina, which scores an ACC-best 82.9 points per game.
The Monarchs (4-3) average nearly 10 points fewer, and have just one player averaging at least 10 points.
Shareese Grant, the team's lone senior, scores 18.6 per game. She also leads in rebounding at 8.3 per contest.
The Monarchs are 0-3 on the road this season, but are coming off an 83-55 win over Harvard on Dec. 22. Grant and junior Lawona Davis had 16 points each as the team snapped a two-game losing streak.
The Monarchs are 1-2 against ACC opponents this season, but 1-0 against Top 25 opponents after upsetting No. 24 Rutgers 69-61 on Dec. 5.
Old Dominion leads the all-time series 12-5, but the Tar Heels have won four of the last six, including a 90-54 victory at Chapel Hill on Dec. 8, 2002.
