University of North Carolina Athletics
Three Tar Heels Earn All-ACC Honors
March 1, 2005 | Women's Basketball
March 1, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Three North Carolina women's basketball players have earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors, as announced on Tuesday. Sophomore Ivory Latta was named to the All-ACC first team, freshman Erlana Larkins to the second team and sophomore Camille Little to the third team.
"I'm really pleased with what our team has done so far this season, and Ivory, Erlana and Camille have played major roles in that success," UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "It's great for them to be recognized as being among the top players in the ACC, especially considering that they're two sophomores and a freshman. "But they know that our success this season has come from playing together and that it's going to take contributions from everyone to do the things we want to in the postseason. I think all our players are focused on the team goals ahead."
The three five-player ACC teams are selected by a vote of members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association.
Latta, a point guard from McConnells, S.C., leads the Tar Heels in scoring (15.9 ppg), assists (4.7 per game) and three-pointers (2.6 per game). Her free throw percentage of .908 is the best in the ACC. She received the third-highest number of votes overall. Latta earned second-team All-ACC honors last season when she was also named to the All-Freshman team.
Larkins, a forward from Riviera Beach, Fla., received the seventh-highest number of votes. She and fellow second-teamer Crystal Langhorne of Maryland were the only freshmen named to the All-ACC teams. Larkins ranks second on the team in scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 per game) and leads the conference in field goal percentage (.633).
Little, a forward from Winston-Salem, N.C., ranks third on the team in scoring (11.9 ppg) and rebounding (5.6). She is shooting .459 from the field and ranks seventh in the ACC with 2.3 steals per game. Like Latta, Little earned All-ACC honors for the second year. She was named to the All-ACC first team and to the All-Freshman team in 2004.
Junior La'Tangela Atkinson earned honorable mention.
The Tar Heels (24-3, 12-2 ACC) moved up to third in this week's USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll and fourth in the Associated Press poll after beating Duke Sunday to claim a share of the regular-season conference title and the top seed in the ACC Tournament. Tournament action starts Friday in Greensboro, N.C., and the Tar Heels open play on Saturday at noon against the winner of Friday's game between eighth-seeded Georgia Tech and ninth-seeded Miami. UNC will play as the top seed for the first time since 1997, when the Tar Heels won their third of four titles in a five-year span.
All-ACC Selections
(First team votes in parentheses)
First Team
Monique Currie, Duke (74)...222; Tamara James, Miami (59)...202; Ivory Latta, North Carolina (55)...195; Shay Doron, Maryland (39)...179; Roneeka Hodges, Florida State (42)...177
Second Team
Crystal Langhorne, Maryland (43)...172; Erlana Larkins, North Carolina (14)...133; LaTonya Blue, Virginia (8)...94; Liz Strunk, Wake Forest (1)...77; Tiffany Stansbury, NC State (4)...76
Third Team
Mistie Williams, Duke (4)...73; Cotelia Bond-Young, Wake Forest (2)...68; Billie McDowell, NC State (7)...60; Camille Little, North Carolina (7)...59; Jessica Foley, Duke (2)...53
Honorable Mention: Kerri Gardin, Virginia Tech; Alicia Gladden, Florida State; Ganiyat Adeduntan, Florida State; Stephanie Higgs, Georgia Tech; La'Tangela Atkinson, North Carolina
