University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 12 Carolina Hosts ETSU Wednesday
December 7, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2010
CHAPEL HILL --- North Carolina continues its three-game homestand Wednesday when the unbeaten Tar Heels host East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. at Carmichael Arena. Carolina is 8-0 on the year after a 79-67 win over No. 18 Iowa Dec. 2 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. ETSU is 2-4 on the season following a 78-70 loss at USC Upstate Dec. 4 in the Lady Bucs' Atlantic Sun opener. UNC is ranked No. 12 in the latest AP poll and No. 13 in the coaches' poll. East Tennessee State is unranked.
AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 8-0, ETSU 2-4
Rankings: North Carolina is ranked No. 12 in the AP poll and No. 13 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll. ETSU is not ranked.
TV: None.
Radio: None.
On The Web: TarHeelBlue.com (UNC), ETSUBucs.com (ETSU)
ETSU SERIES HISTORY
• North Carolina is 11-0 all-time against East Tennessee State, including an 9-0 mark in Chapel Hill.
• UNC and ETSU are meeting for the second straight season. The Tar Heels defeated the Lady Bucs, 104-65, on Dec. 31 in Chapel Hill.
NOTING THE LADY BUCS
• East Tennessee State is 2-4 on the season following a 78-70 loss at USC Upstate on Dec. 4. The loss, which was the Lady Bucs' conference opener, was their fourth straight after opening the season with a pair of wins over Chattanooga and Richmond.
• Senior guard Tara Davis leads ETSU in scoring with 14.8 points per game. Freshman guard/forward Destiny Mitchell is second in scoring (13.5 ppg) and tops on the squad in rebounding (9.5 rpg).
TAR HEELS IN CARMICHAEL ARENA
• Carolina is 386-86 all-time in Carmichael, with a 13-3 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 (429-96, 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. 14 UNC 79, No. 18 Iowa 67
CHAPEL HILL (AP) --- Italee Lucas scored a career-high 34 points, leading No. 14 North Carolina to a 79-67 victory over No. 18 Iowa on Thursday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Laura Broomfield added 12 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for UNC (8-0), which got 10 points from Chay Shegog. Jessica Breland grabbed 10 rebounds. It was UNC's first win in three meetings with the Hawkeyes. Jaime Printy led Iowa (7-1) with 17 points while Morgan Johnson had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Kamille Wahlin also scored 16 points.
NOTING THE WIN OVER IOWA
• Senior Italee Lucas scored a career-high 34 points in leading UNC past Iowa. Lucas had 17 points in each half, including 17 of Carolina's 35 points after halftime.
• With three steals against the Hawkeyes, senior Cetera DeGraffenreid became the fifth player in school history to reach 300 career steals.
• UNC improved to 3-1 in the current incarnation of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Tar Heels defeated Purdue in 2007 and Ohio State in 2008 before falling at Michigan State last season.
DeGRAFFENREID IN NCAA TOP 10 IN ASSISTS, TURNOVER RATIO
Despite averaging a career-low 7.1 points per game so far in 2010, point guard Cetera DeGraffenreid is off to an incredible start to her senior season. DeGraffenreid has tallied 52 assists against just seven turnovers over eight games, making her second in the nation in assist-turnover ratio (+7.43) and seventh in the nation in assists per game (6.5). She is also directing the country's second-highest scoring offense, with Carolina averaging 90.3 points per contest.
