University of North Carolina Athletics
Brownlow: Tough, But Not Enough
March 7, 2009 | Women's Basketball
March 7, 2009
By Lauren Brownlow
An intriguing three-way rivalry between Maryland, Carolina and Duke has developed, particularly on the women's side as the three have been steadily good for the last 4-5 years. But it's not likely to spot some Duke fans behind the basket, waving their arms wildly as Maryland players attempt free throws in an ACC Tournament game against Carolina.
The "Rudy" analogy Coach Hatchell brought up after the Clemson game seemed far-fetched. But against Maryland, it feels just right.
This Maryland team at times feels unbeatable. It features two incredible seniors, both First-Team All-ACC, who have led this team while its younger supporting cast has been allowed the luxury of developing as role players. They get to the foul line, yet they are a physical team, as are the Tar Heels, and they are quick and can score, just like the Tar Heels.
It is tough and resilient, qualities that not many have ascribed to Carolina this season. But make no mistake about it - this Carolina team showed that it is tough. The Tar Heels refused to go away when it would have been easier to go away at many points during this game. Carolina faced deficits as large as 13 and each time - except, of course, for the final 11-point margin - cut them down to single digits.
In fact, Carolina went on a 24-6 first-half run to take a five-point lead and a 20-6 lead in the second half to erase a 12-point deficit. But the Tar Heels had to withstand runs of 24-11 and 20-3 that preceded their runs.
There were stretches when the Tar Heels could not get a break. ACC Player of the Year Kristi Toliver made a brilliant ball fake that caused Jessica Breland to jump on her during a three-point attempt; she coolly drained all three foul shots. These were stretches that all year long have caused this team to feel sorry for itself, according to its coach. Not this time.
More than one scrum for a loose ball resulted in players eying each other menacingly long after the referee had awarded the ball according to the arrow. Players on both sides took slaps to the face, body checks and elbows, throwing their bodies into each other on both ends. As Maryland's top two three-point shooters combined to make 1-of-8, a redshirt freshman playing in her 12th game made 3-of-7. Carolina's fouls piled up one after the other and Cetera DeGraffenreid, who had been getting to the line at will, did not get there once.
But Carolina would not let Maryland pull away. Italee Lucas showed that she is going to be a very special player. Sixteen of her 26 points came in the first half on 5-of-9 shooting (4-of-6 from beyond the arc). Her first three-pointer helped ignite a 24-6 run; her four-point play gave Carolina a five-point lead and she had 13 of the 24.
Lucas has the confidence to take three's with a hand in her face or not, holding her follow through after a particularly contested three in a bit of an homage to Terrapin terrorizer Ivory Latta, but without the rest of the demonstrative behavior.
Rudy really would have been proud, though, of the 5-8 sophomore guard defending a 6-1 senior forward and First-Team All-ACC player, Marissa Coleman. She got in the face of the Maryland senior consistently, knocking balls away and generally flustering her whenever possible. She was not guarded by Coleman - the forward was in the low post - and Coleman did end up with 29 points.
But the point is that Lucas, like the rest of her teammates, refused to back down. She was burned a few times, but managed to draw a few fouls on Coleman and kept the strutting and head-nodding of the senior to a minimum, at least until the game no longer appeared in doubt.
And that's what this team did as long as it could. Even when it was down by nine with seven minutes left, Carolina scored nine points in 2:08 to cut the lead to one with 4:27 to go. But Maryland is too good for the foul line and there was simply no offensive margin for error.
This will be the first ACC title game without the Tar Heels in it since 2001 and eliminates what Hatchell had dubbed the "drive for five" - five ACC championships in a row. But it was evident after the game how proud she was of her team and its growth.
"I thought we competed hard and it's not over," Hatchell said. "It's something a little different for us, but we will learn from it. We got another chance. We were just talking in the locker room about `05 our men lost in the semifinals, and won the National Championship and the Final Four was in St. Louis. I believe that's where ours is.
"You've got to stay positive. You've got to think about the opportunities and the good things."
She has had a similar refrain about staying positive all season long, but this time, she has plenty of reasons to feel good about the direction this team is going.
