University of North Carolina Athletics
Brownlow: Different Hunger For Four-Time Champs
March 9, 2008 | Women's Basketball
March 9, 2008
By Lauren Brownlow
Near the end of the first half, Carolina had a 35-31 lead and a Duke team that Carolina had blown out twice already appeared to be having none of it this time. Duke's Abby Waner was frustrated at a call and spiked the ball. She was whistled for a technical foul. So, who to send to the line? Maybe LaToya Pringle, who leads the healthy team members in free-throw percentage (76.9%)?
No, instead Sylvia Hatchell chose Erlana Larkins, who of those on the team who have attempted 50 or more free throws, shot the worst from the line (58.4%). It's something she's worked on relentlessly, but she came into the ACC Tournament shooting 58.1% (3.0 makes on 5.1 attempts per game) and through the three games in the Tournament, she shot 62.9% (7.3 makes on 11.7 attempts).
"She's my leader, she's my senior, I'm going to put her on the line because I know what this game means to her. So I put her up there on the foul line to make those foul shots and she did exactly what we needed her to do," Hatchell said.
And that's exactly what she did - no flashy moments, just 17 points and eight rebounds against Duke in earning the ACC Tournament MVP Award. What has been steady about this team is Larkins. She may not have won Player of the Year honors in the ACC, but it was her average of 18.7 points and 11.0 rebounds that lifted this team to victory.
But what's different about this team is that it was a different player complementing her every game. It was a different player asked to step up and do a little bit more than necessary to put this team over the top. Cetera DeGraffenreid had a fantastic game, scoring 17 points (including 6-of-9 three-pointers). But when she picked up her third foul with six minutes to go in the first half, it was going to be up to Italee Lucas to run the offense.
She did it in the first half without any flashy numbers - two points, two turnovers (both in the final 23 seconds of the half), and two steals in eight minutes. When DeGraffenreid came back in the second half, though, Hatchell did what she loves to do - she played the two together. DeGraffenreid played all 20 minutes in the second half while Lucas played 11.
Lucas rewarded her coach's faith in her. In a four-minute stretch, she managed two assists (both on DeGraffenreid three-pointers), two free throws, a three-pointer of her own and two steals. One of her steals was especially impressive - as she was falling out of bounds on a steal try, she knocked the ball high up into the air rather than just tipping it back in bounds. The crowd "oohed" appreciatively as Erlana Larkins was able to corral the ball and Carolina set up its offense.
She has been the sparkplug on this team and fulfilled her role off the bench very well. As the more heralded recruit coming out of high school, she easily could have spent the season sulking that DeGraffenreid stepped into the starting role. Instead, she has played through her mistakes and continued to leave all she has on the court, even if that sometimes means a few turnovers.
"That was like a little volleyball play, wasn't it? That's just the hustle. Those are the things we ask her to do, just come on the court, run our offense and just give hustle plays. It was a tremendous play. To see how she elevated her play this game, it was unbelievable," LaToya Pringle said. "You'd rather not have to motivate somebody to push the ball or to just have energy, but sometimes she has so much that she's just all over the place. So we just have to calm her down, be like, `Italee, just calm down and run the offense.' But I think she played excellent tonight."
This team is different than the previous three Carolina teams that have won this title. Carolina has now won it four years in a row, meaning that no one on this team has experienced a loss in the ACC Tournament. Last season, Ivory Latta and Camille Little talked about how they were forced to sit and watch Duke celebrate as freshmen in 2003 when Duke beat them in the title game.
This year, Duke was off the court fairly quickly after the game. But there is no question that the mentality brought by Little (who was at the game and climbed quickly over the bleachers to join her former teammates in celebration) and Latta last season, the hunger necessary to win the ACC Tournament, has remained with its upperclassmen.
"It's pretty special. We never really expected it, but every time we come here, we work so hard. We're all on the same page, just working our butts off just to win every game. That's why we've won four in a row," Pringle said. "It's just unbelievable. Everybody steps up their game when we come here. Everybody boosts up their scoring average, rebounding average, everything when they come here. I think that's why me and her (Larkins) have been so successful here."
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
