University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Bring It Against Tennessee
December 4, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2006
By Lauren Brownlow
Star sophomore Candace Parker, who chipped in 27 of Tennessee's 57 points, sat at the press table shaking her head. She shot a side glance toward the closed door of the Carolina locker room as it sporadically erupted in laughter or applause.
When asked about what Carolina did to get the win, she said simply, "They played a great game. They brought it."
"Did you guys bring it?" a reporter asked quickly.
"I think in spurts, but we need to bring it all the time," Parker said. "We wanted this game, and this was a great environment and we came in to a sold out gym. It was a great environment; it was like a postseason environment."
The Carolina crowd brought it. Carmichael was absolutely vibrating on several occasions, like when LaToya Pringle made up for a bad pass by chasing down Parker on the break and blocking her shot for a jump ball, or when Alex Miller swished a three-pointer as the shot clock went down that iced the game for Carolina with 20 seconds left.
The Carolina celebrities also brought it. New football coach Butch Davis sat on the Tar Heel bench for the first half, interviewed by another celebrity, Rebecca Lobo. Anson Dorrance came out and waved to the crowd at halftime, fresh off his 18th women's soccer national championship. Roy Williams, Wayne Ellington and Brandan Wright also made appearances.
But most importantly, it was Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in college basketball with 920 wins, facing off against Sylvia Hatchell and her 724 wins - well, 725 now. The two women and old friends hugged before the game, sharing a brief moment before it was time to get down to business.
To say the pace of the game was frantic would be an understatement. The teams turned the ball over a combined 48 times (24 apiece), but after an Alex Miller turnover at around the nine-minute mark, Carolina would only turn it over once more. Tennessee had 13 steals while Carolina had 16, and Tennessee converted 20 points off turnovers to just 13 for Carolina. No shot went uncontested on either end. Hands flew in passing lanes, ball-handlers were quickly bodied up and players were clutching their shorts within the first five minutes of the game.
"I just think we showed some great character tonight. People around the nation didn't believe we were able to beat Tennessee," Larkins said. "They knew we had great players in myself, Ivory and Camille coming back, but they were questioning everybody else."
But they didn't need to. LaToya Pringle brought it. Though the junior fouled out at the end of the game, the only player to do so in a game in which both teams combined for 43 fouls, she had two official blocks and quite a few other almost-blocks on Parker to help lift the Tar Heels to victory. Her turnover and chase-down of Parker on the break to block her shot and force a jump ball provoked perhaps the loudest Carmichael reaction of the night.
Plenty of other Tar Heels brought it, including Heather Claytor coming in for just three minutes and taking a charging foul, and Alex Miller and Camille Little leading the Tar Heels with a team-high four steals apiece. Jessica Breland struggled a bit offensively at first, but got open with some great backdoor cuts for six points and added six rebounds, two blocks and three steals in just 14 minutes.
Ivory Latta brought it. When Tennessee closed to within three, Latta had five points in a little over thirty seconds to put the Tar Heels up 46-38 with 12:05 left. She had three straight assists down the stretch to ice the game for the Tar Heels to bring her final assist tally to eight and added two rebounds and two steals. In a game like this, it was hard for any of the players to have the energy to get pumped up, but as usual, Latta found time to pump her fist, pound on her chest and deliver that patented 1000-watt Ivory Latta grin.
But Latta didn't want anyone to pay attention her. She knew that it was the Tar Heels' force in the post Erlana Larkins who scored a team-high 17 points and pulled down 12 boards that was the key to victory.
"The great thing is, I've got No. 2 on my team, and whenever we get her the ball, great things happen, so I'm happy. That's Ms. Larkins," Latta said, pointing at her teammate just in case there was any confusion.
Larkins also brought it with her two steals, a block, three assists, and just one turnover and one foul. She forced countless jump balls by her sheer will, attempting to rip the ball away from the Tennessee player on several occasions.
Larkins' big game and Parker's 27-point, 10-rebound, 4-block performance became the highlights of a game that was really not about scoring at all.
"When we went through and shook hands I told the players, `Let's meet again for the national championship.' It was an honor to play that game," Coach Hatchell said. "We bring out the best and the worst, I guess, in each other, because both teams defensively beat each other up. It was tough and physical, but it was a great game."
Larkins struggled last year against Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament, going 3-of-11 from the field and 1-of-2 from the foul line for 7 points in 31 minutes. She claimed a desire to redeem herself wasn't part of the goal tonight. Whenever she was double-teamed, she made a quick pass out to a teammate for an easy jumper. Once the Tar Heels began to knock a few of those down, things opened up for Larkins in the post, as she scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half.
"We just showed how we can stick together down the road," Larkins said. "We just stuck together, no bickering, and we just knew in the end we could pull it out if we stayed together, played some great defense, and made some good shots."
"Yeah, Erlana!" Latta said with a huge grin, as if she had just dished yet another assist to her favorite target." That was good."
Perhaps most important of all, the Tar Heels earned their first victory against a top-five non-conference opponent at home in the history of Carolina women's basketball. Now that's bringing it.
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
