University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 12 Tar Heels Welcome UNLV Sunday
December 11, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 11, 2010
CHAPEL HILL --- North Carolina plays its final pre-Christmas home game Sunday when the Tar Heels welcome UNLV to Carmichael Arena for a 2 p.m. tilt. Carolina is 9-0 on the year after an 87-47 win over East Tennessee State on Wednesday. UNLV is 5-2 on the season following an 80-48 win over San Jose State on Dec. 5. UNC is ranked No. 12 in the latest AP poll and No. 13 in the coaches' poll. UNLV is unranked.
AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 9-0, UNLV 5-2
Rankings: North Carolina is ranked No. 12 in the AP poll and No. 13 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll. UNLV is not ranked.
TV: Carolina All-Access. Today's game is available live and on-demand at TarHeelBlue.com.
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network, a division of Learfield Communications. Dave Nathan (play-by-play) and Jan Boxill (analyst) have the call.
On The Web: TarHeelBlue.com (UNC), UNLVRebels.com (UNLV)
UNLV SERIES HISTORY
• North Carolina is 3-0 all-time against UNLV.
• Sunday marks UNLV's second visit to Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels defeated the Lady Rebels, 82-76, in the second round of the 1986 NCAA Tournament. The other two meetings in the series have been in Las Vegas.
• The two teams are playing for the second year in a row. UNC beat UNLV, 78-68, last season.
NOTING THE LADY REBELS
• UNLV is 5-2 on the season following an 80-48 win over San Jose State on Dec. 5.
• Sophomore guard Kelli Thompson leads UNLV in scoring with 14.3 points per game. She is the lone Lady Rebel to average double figures in points.
• Junior forward Jamie Smith is the team's leading rebounder with 9.0 boards per contest. Smith had a double-double (17 points, 18 rebounds) in last year's meeting.
TAR HEELS IN CARMICHAEL ARENA
• Carolina is 387-86 all-time in Carmichael, with a 14-3 record since the building re-opened after being closed for renovations from March 2008 to December 2009.
• The Tar Heels have won at least 14 home games in each of the last nine seasons, including a school-record 18 during an undefeated 2007-08 home campaign.
• With an all-time home winning percentage of .817 (430-96, including a 43-10 record in the Dean E. Smith Center), Chapel Hill ranks as the ninth most difficult location for visiting teams all-time in Division I women's basketball.
LAST TIME OUT
No. 12 UNC 87, ETSU 47
CHAPEL HILL (AP) --- Italee Lucas scored 13 points to lead four players in double figures and No. 12 North Carolina used a big second half to surge past East Tennessee State 87-47 Wednesday night. Jessica Breland added 11 points and nine rebounds and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt 11 points for the Tar Heels (9-0). Krista Gross added a career-high 10 points.
NOTING THE WIN OVER ETSU
• Senior Italee Lucas had a team-high 13 points, marking the eighth game out of nine in which she has been the team's leading scorer.
• With three blocks against the Lady Bucs, senior Jessica Breland became the third player in school history with 250 career blocks.
• UNC had a season-best 26-0 run to pull away from ETSU in the second half.
DeGRAFFENREID IN NCAA TOP 10 IN ASSISTS, TURNOVER RATIO
Despite averaging a career-low 7.3 points per game so far in 2010, point guard Cetera DeGraffenreid is off to an incredible start to her senior season. DeGraffenreid has tallied 55 assists against just eight turnovers over eight games, making her second in the nation in assist-turnover ratio (+6.88) and seventh in the nation in assists per game (6.1). She is also directing the country's second-highest scoring offense, with Carolina averaging 89.9 points per contest.
REBOUNDS EQUAL WINS FOR TAR HEELS
Carolina has always stressed the importance of rebounding and that statistic has been a good indicator of success for the Tar Heels over the last five seasons. Since the beginning of the 2006-07 season, Carolina has won the rebounding battle in 114 of 145 games. In those 114 games, UNC sports an overall record of 108-6.
