University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Rebound By Rebounding
February 18, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2007
By Lauren Brownlow
The Tar Heels committed a cardinal sin on Friday night - they allowed themselves to be outrebounded, 42-35, by NC State.
Sure, it was an emotional game. Yes, NC State named the court at Reynolds after head coach Kay Yow, who has been suffering from cancer and just recently returned to the sideline. But Sylvia Hatchell-coached teams do not get outrebounded.
So, with one day off between games, how did Coach Hatchell make her team pay?
Running - lots and lots of running.
"We knew it was coming. We knew we didn't do a good job rebounding. Like Coach Hatchell said, we just had to put on our big-girl panties, do our work and get it over with," Erlana Larkins said.
So, just how much did Coach Hatchell make the team run?
"Enough. Hey, we're still here. It didn't kill us," Larkins said, laughing.
"Some people were close, though. I didn't think some people were going to make it," Camille Little added quickly, while she, Larkins and Ivory Latta shared a laugh at some of their teammates' expense.
The Tar Heels rebounded in true Sylvia Hatchell fashion, beating Miami 93-70 in Chapel Hill on Sunday afternoon, less than 48 hours after their loss at NC State. They outrebounded the Hurricanes 47-33, including a 21-14 advantage on the offensive glass and a 26-19 advantage on the defensive boards.
The Tar Heels were able to get back into a rebounding groove, and in the first half, they were seemingly back to playing their defensive game. On Friday, Carolina allowed NC State to shoot 54.6% in the first half and score 46 points, a season high. They held Miami to 26.7% shooting in the first half and led 52-24 at the break.
"Setting the tone, the tempo is a mentality that I wanted them to have," Coach Hatchell said. "I tried to substitute a lot more and play a lot of people, so that's why I kept moving people in and out of there. I was disappointed that I had to put the starters back in, but Miami got really hot in the second half."
The long Saturday practice combined with some second-half defensive breakdowns resulted in the Hurricanes "winning" the second half and tying the most points scored against the Tar Heels in a half, 46-41. Miami's Maurtia Reid scored just five first-half points on 2-of-10 shooting and 1-of-7 from the three-point line, but then added 23 second-half points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from behind the arc. The Hurricanes shot 53.1% in the second half.
"A couple of times we had some defensive breakdowns, trying to rotate and get back on defense. Those are things we can work on," Little said. "Overall we did a great job defensively. The intensity was great today. We were just more focused, and it helped us out tremendously. We got some good turnovers on them and tried to score and were aggressive. So I really can't complain right now."
Ivory Latta also got back on pace as well, leading the Tar Heels with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting (5-of-9 from the three-point line) and dishing out six assists. In Carolina's two losses this season, Latta has shot a combined 8-of-41 from the field (19.5%) and 0-of-19 from the three-point line for 19 points.
A big reason for Latta's improved shooting performance was Carolina's patience on offense. The Tar Heels worked the ball inside to their three post players - Larkins, LaToya Pringle and Jessica Breland - early and often. Larkins led the way with 13 points (nine in the first half) and 13 rebounds, while Pringle and Breland combined to shoot 9-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line for 21 points.
"That's pretty much the game plan: play inside to outside and open up for the guards. That's what I did, and I was just being patient, took the time and made the shots," Latta said. "We just need to play Carolina basketball and get the ball inside. That's what we did from the get-go. We definitely had an advantage on the inside, because Erlana went to work early in the game. We just need to get back to our basics and we're going to get there."
The Tar Heels allowed the Hurricanes to score 25 points off of 22 Carolina turnovers, but scored 40 of their 93 points in the paint. The Tar Heels also managed 21 offensive rebounds, their second-highest amount in ACC play, and though they only scored 11 second-chance points, they established their rebounding dominance early.
"We just knew that we had to crash the offensive boards hard. We got out-rebounded at NC State. Coach just felt like rebounding is just heart and intensity. It doesn't require skill or anything like that; it's just all about hustle and how much you want it," Larkins said, who led the Tar Heels with seven offensive boards.
All five starters scored in double figures, and Camille Little had all 13 points in the first half but added three rebounds (all offensive), two assists and two steals in the second half. Little and Latta are seniors and will say goodbye to the Carolina faithful in their last home game
The Tar Heel faithful would be remiss if they did not come and give the two a proper farewell on Thursday night at 7:00 against Wake Forest.
"First thing I want to see is that Thursday night, this place should be sold out for Ivory and Camille for Senior Night. I'll be disappointed if it's not sold out for Senior Night for what these two young ladies have done for this program. They deserve that. I'm looking forward to the sold-out crowd on Thursday night," Coach Hatchell said.
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
