UNC Takes On No. 8 UConn Monday In Jimmy V Classic

Dec. 4, 2005

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Tipoff
The North Carolina women's basketball team (7-0) will face its second ranked opponent of the season and play on an opponent's home court for the first time this year Monday night when the Tar Heels take on Connecticut (6-0) at the Jimmy V Classic in Hartford, Conn. Tipoff at the Hartford Civic Center is 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised live by ESPN2.
UNC is ranked seventh in this week's Associated Press poll and eighth in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll. UConn is eighth in the A.P. poll and sixth in the coaches' poll.
The Tar Heels are competing in the Jimmy V Classic for the second year in a row. In last year's event, played in Raleigh, UNC beat Connecticut 71-65.
Monday's game will be the sixth in 11 days for UNC. Carolina played back-to-back games at the Caribbean Classic in Mexico on Nov. 25 and 26, then returned to Chapel Hill for three home games last Tuesday, Thursday and Friday before departing Sunday for Connecticut.

On the air
Monday's game will be televised nationally by ESPN2. Mark Jones is the play-by-play announcer, Doris Burke will provide color commentary and Rebecca Lobo will report from the sidelines. The game is the first of 10 scheduled television appearances for UNC this season.
Monday's game also will air on the Tar Heel Radio Network, which includes eight stations across the state. WCHL-AM 1360 in Chapel Hill is the flagship. Taylor Zarzour is the Tar Heels' play-by-play announcer and Jan Boxill provides color commentary.
Radio broadcasts and live game statistics are available on the internet at www.TarHeelBlue.com.

Next up
After returning from Hartford, the Tar Heels host Wofford on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The team will then get a nine-day break from games during final exams, which begin on Friday.

UNC at a glance
2005-06 record 7-0
2004-05 record 30-4 (12-2 ACC)
Current rankings 7th A.P., 8th ESPN/USA Today
Head coach Sylvia Hatchell
Career record 691-266 (31st season)
Record at UNC 419-186 (20th season)
Assistant head coach Andrew Calder
Assistant coaches Tracey Williams-Johnson, Charlotte Smith-Taylor
Media contact Dana Gelin
Gelin's phone/email (919) 962-0083/dgelin@uncaa.unc.edu
UNC athletics website www.TarHeelBlue.com
UNC ticket office (919) 962-2296, (800) 722-4335
Home arena Carmichael Auditorium (cap. 8,010)
Carmichael Auditorium press row number (919) 843-9509

Briefly ...

The Tar Heels have opened their schedule 7-0 for the second year in a row. Last season UNC won its first seven games before falling to Penn State on the road on Dec. 5, 2004.

Connecticut is the second of back-to-back Big East opponents for UNC. The Tar Heels beat South Florida, in its first year in the league, 71-47 on Friday in Chapel Hill.

UNC leads the series with Connecticut 3-2 following last year's 71-65 win in the Jimmy V Classic in Raleigh on Nov. 21, 2004.

Monday's game is the first on the road this season for UNC, which has played two neutral-site games and five home contests. Carolina was 7-3 in road games last season, with losses at Penn State, Maryland and Florida State. The Tar Heels have won 18 consecutive games at Carmichael Auditorium and 23 in a row in Chapel Hill (including five at the Dean E. Smith Center).

The North Carolina bench accounted for 60 points in last Thursday's win over Charleston Southern as the starters averaged just 13 minutes of playing time. The bench is providing 36.9 points per game this season.

Ivory Latta has hit at least one three-pointer in 35 consecutive games, dating back to Dec. 1, 2004, when she went 0-for-4 against Wofford.

With one three-pointer against Charleston Southern, Ivory Latta took over fifth place on the UNC career chart in that category. With three against USF, she moved into a tie for 20th in ACC history. She heads into the UConn game with a career total of 172 in 72 games (2.4 per game).

Ivory Latta needs 14 points to move into 20th place on UNC's career scoring list. She's currently in 21st with 1145 career points. In 20th is Sylvia Crawley, the center on UNC's 1994 NCAA Championship team, with 1158.

The Tar Heels have used the same starting five for all seven games and both exhibitions: seniors Jessica Sell and La'Tangela Atkinson, juniors Ivory Latta and Camille Little and sophomore Erlana Larkins.

The win over No. 16 Arizona State in Mexico was UNC's first of the season over a ranked team. The Tar Heels were 6-2 last season against teams ranked in the A.P. poll.

UNC is 20-89 all-time against teams ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll. The Tar Heels were 4-1 last season against top-10 teams. UNC is 85-168 all-time against top-25 teams.

Team captains for the 2005-06 season are senior La'Tangela Atkinson, junior Ivory Latta and sophomore Erlana Larkins.

Notes on the stats

Nine of UNC's 14 players have made at least one three-pointer through the season's first seven games and all but three have attempted at least one.

As a team, UNC is averaging 7.7 three-pointers per game. The Tar Heels averaged 5.3 per game last season.

Ivory Latta is averaging 6.3 assists per game this season, up from her team-best 4.3 per game last year. Over the last three games, she has averaged 7.0.

UNC is shooting .461 percent from the field this season and two of the Tar Heels top three games have come away from home. Carolina shot a season-best .537 (29-54) against TCU at the Caribbean Classic in Mexico and .476 (30-63), third-best of the season, against No. 16 Arizona State in the same event.

The Tar Heels are averaging 22 assists per game and have had more turnovers than assists just once this season, against UNC Asheville on Nov. 29 (21 assists, 23 turnovers). In Friday's game against South Florida, Carolina had 21 assists on 25 baskets.

UNC's statistical leaders
Scoring: Ivory Latta, 17.1 points per game
Rebounding: La'Tangela Atkinson, 6.9 per game
Assists: Ivory Latta, 6.3 per game
Steals: Erlana Larkins, 2.3 per game
Blocks: LaToya Pringle, 2.0 per game
Minutes: Ivory Latta, 26.4 per game
Field goal percentage: Erlana Larkins, .688 (33-48)
Three-point percentage: Ivory Latta, .559 (19-34)
Free throw percentage: Alex Miller, .909 (10-11); Ivory Latta, .893 (25-28)

UNC in the Jimmy V
North Carolina is making its second appearance in the Jimmy V Classic. The Tar Heels also were part of the four-team field for the 2004 event, played in Raleigh, N.C. This year's game in Hartford, Conn., is a rematch of last year's, in which UNC beat Connecticut 71-65.
The 2005 Jimmy V, the fourth annual, is the first time that the women's event has been played away from Raleigh and the first time that it has included just one game.

Ivory Latta is tied with four other players for the Jimmy V Classic record for three-pointers after hitting three in last year's game.
La'Tangela Atkinson is tied for the free-throw percentage record after making all six of her attempts last season. UNC holds the team mark for free throw percentage after hitting 17 of 19 (.895 percent) last year.

Last year's six-point margin of victory by the Tar Heels over Connecticut is the closest finish of the six games in the history of the Jimmy V Classic.

Scouting the UConn Huskies
At 6-0 on the season, Connecticut is ranked eighth in the Associated Press poll and sixth in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.
Sophomore Mel Thomas leads the team in scoring with 15.0 points per game and is shooting .516 (16-31) from three-point range. Also in double figures are Ann Strother (14.6 points per game) and Charde Houston (12.6 ppg). Barbara Turner is the team's top rebounder with 6.5 per game.
The Huskies are 1-0 against ranked teams this season with an 82-62 win over No. 25 Oklahoma in the championship game of the Preseason WNIT, which UConn won for the third time in as many appearances.
UConn is coached by Geno Auriemma, who is in his 21st season with the program.

The series against Connecticut
UNC leads the series with Connecticut 3-2 following last season's 71-65 win at the Jimmy V Classic in Raleigh on Nov. 21, 2004. Three of the teams' meetings have come on neutral courts, with UNC winning two of those. Connecticut has won the only meeting in which it was the home team (94-74 in a Preseason WNIT semifinal game on Nov. 15, 2001, in Storrs, Conn.)

Previous UNC-UConn meetings:
Nov. 21, 2004: UNC 71, UConn 65 (Jimmy V Classic, Raleigh, N.C.)
• Nov. 15, 2001: UConn 94, UNC 74 (Preseason WNIT semifinals, Storrs, Conn.)
• Dec. 2, 1995: UConn 77, UNC 62 (Central Fidelity Classic, Richmond, Va.)
• March 26, 1994: UNC 81, UConn 69 (NCAA East Region final, Piscataway, N.J.)
• Jan. 12, 1980: UNC 84, UConn 51 (Chapel Hill, N.C.)

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Erlana Larkins

Ivory Latta

Camille Little

Alex Miller

LaToya Pringle

Jessica Sell

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