University of North Carolina Athletics
Coppin State-North Carolina AP Preview
March 19, 2005 | Women's Basketball
GAME: No. 16 Coppin State (23-7) vs. No. 1 North Carolina (27-3).
REGIONAL: Tempe, First Round.
TIME: Sunday, 7 p.m. EST.
SITE: The Dean E. Smith Center; Chapel Hill, N.C.
With a No. 1 seed and home-court advantage for the first two rounds, North Carolina is in position to make a run at its first national championship in 11 years.
The Tar Heels hope to begin making up for last season's disappointing postseason when they face Coppin State in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
North Carolina won the ACC regular-season title this season for the first time since 1996-97 and followed it up with its first conference tournament championship since taking back-to-back titles from 1996-98.
The Tar Heels' 88-67 win over Duke in the ACC title game on March 7 earned them their eighth trip to the tournament in nine years and helped to ensure their first No. 1 seed since 1997.
"I was pleased to see us come up as a No. 1 seed," coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "I felt like we deserved it, and we've worked hard to be in that position. Now we just have to take care of business."
ACC tournament MVP Ivory Latta scored 26 points and Camille Little added 23 for Carolina, which beat Duke three times this season. The Tar Heels trailed against ninth-seeded Miami in the quarterfinals and came back from a 17-point deficit against Virginia in the semis, but looked much stronger in the finals.
The Tar Heels, who have not reached the Final Four since their national championship season of 1994, are hoping to erase the awful memories of last year's first-round loss to lightly regarded Middle Tennessee, which became just the third 13th seed to win in the opening round.
North Carolina should have the crowd on its side this time around at the Smith Center, where it beat Duke, Old Dominion and North Carolina State this season. Hatchell said her team feels comfortable in the arena, which seats almost 12,000 more fans than the Tar Heels' home court, Carmichael Auditorium.
"We like playing over there," she said. "It's just a tremendous basketball facility and there's no where I'd rather be playing."
Coppin State earned its first NCAA bid in 20 years of Division I play with a 67-43 win over Norfolk State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament championship. Tournament MVP LaKesha Wills had 20 points and 13 rebounds and Leisel Harry added 10 points, eight boards and three blocks for the Lady Eagles.
"We set goals this season," said guard Denita Plain, who had nine points. "This was our final goal."
Coppin State has won eight straight overall.
"I'm just glad we could set a standard on our way out," said Harry, a senior.
North Carolina and Coppin State have never met.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Coppin State - F Sherrie Tucker (15.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg), F Talia Sutton (6.2 ppg, 7.1 rpg), C Wills (13.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg), G Plain (6.4 ppg, 3.9 apg), G Courtni Strickland (7.7 ppg, 3.4 apg). North Carolina - F Erlana Larkins (15.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg), F Little (12 ppg, 5.9 rpg), F Nikita Bell (10.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg), G Latta (16.9 ppg, 4.5 apg), G La'Tangela Atkinson (8.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Coppin State - Automatic bid, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion. North Carolina - Automatic bid, Atlantic Coast Conference champion
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: Coppin State - First appearance. North Carolina - 24-15, 17 years.
