University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Ready For Showdown
January 21, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2007
By Lauren Brownlow
When asked about facing Maryland a week from today, Erlana Larkins was reluctant to think about revenge. When asked about facing their nemesis from last year, the only team to beat them (twice) and the team that knocked them out of the NCAA tournament, she just smiled. "I don't know. It's going to be exciting. I just can't wait. Words can't describe that game that's coming Sunday, so we'll just wait and see."
Point guard Ivory Latta has never had trouble finding the words, and was chomping at the bit to get a crack at the question.
"Sometimes you may be too up," Coach Hatchell said to her point guard.
"You can ask me, I'll tell you," Latta said. "It's going to be a very emotional game. I'm telling you, we're going to be very hype and ready for that game. As far as revenge, yes, that's going to be in there but we're going to be ready. I'm ready now. We're ready now. But we're going to take our time but it's going to be a great game. We're going to going to go out there and have fun."
Latta played in the beginning of Sunday's game against NC State almost as if she were thinking about Maryland already, jacking up a three-pointer in the first nine seconds that glanced harmlessly off the rim, as if she just wanted to get this game over with. She proceeded to charge into two NC State players and pick up two offensive fouls in a minute and a half.
The Tar Heels got out to a 6-2 lead in the first two minutes; the Wolfpack went on a 10-3 run to take a 16-9 lead with 12:25 left in the first half. Two straight baskets from LaToya Pringle and Jessica Breland brought the Tar Heels to within three at 16-13. NC State's Sasha Reeves, who had 21 points and was perfect from the field and the free throw line, was called for traveling. Carolina got the ball back, and the NC State defense was suffocating the Tar Heels. Finally, as the shot clock ran down, Latta couldn't find anyone and launched a three-pointer that hit to tie the game at 16. NC State double-dribbled on the next possession and twenty-one seconds after her first three, she hit another three-pointer to put the Tar Heels up 19-16. They never trailed again.
Latta went into the game ten points away from 2,000 points. With 28 seconds left in the first half, she had eight points and the ball in her hands. She dribbled slowly in the backcourt, getting the play call from her head coach and finally exploding in one quick motion past her defender. With seven seconds to go, she pulled up and hit a three-pointer that got her the 1,999th, 2,000th and 2,001st points of her career as a Tar Heel, making her the fifth woman in Carolina history to pass the 2,000-point milestone.
She finished the game with 20 points, two rebounds, three assists, two steals, and five turnovers in 37 minutes. She was 7-of-13 from the field and 6-of-9 from the three-point line. Latta is feeling it at just the right time - after having just three 20-point games in Carolina's first 16 games, she now has three in the last six.
Her 66.7% from the three-point line was her best since a 3-of-4 (75%) performance against Coastal Carolina on December 18th, and her six made three-pointers ties a career high. Her 0-of-2 performance from the free throw line marked just the third time this year that she did not make a free throw and just the second that she attempted at least one and did not make one. The entire team struggled from the line, going just 1-of-4 from the free throw line in the first half.
The Tar Heels were much more aggressive in the second half, as they shot 13-of-16 from the line in the second half. NC State went on a brief run in the second half, cutting a 23-point lead to a slightly more manageable 18 points with 4:09. But Erlana Larkins was the only other Tar Heel to get to the line in the first half, and she and Camille Little combined to make 12-of-15 free throws to help seal the victory for the Tar Heels.
Carolina again showed its offensive balance as Latta and three other Tar Heels netted double-figure performances. Camille Little had 19 points and seven rebounds; Erlana Larkins had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Rashanda McCants added 12 points, four assists and four steals. The Tar Heels were enjoying their win this afternoon, but like their point guard, they would be lying if they said they haven't been thinking about this game against Maryland for a long, long time.
"My understanding, we have heard that they sold more tickets for this game than any game they've had, men or women's," Coach Hatchell said. "They've actually sold 18,000 and it only holds 17,500, so five hundred people are going to be standing or doing something - as long as they're not sitting on our bench."
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
