University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 9 Carolina Looks To Rebound At Miami Thursday
February 3, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2010
CORAL GABLES, Fla. --- North Carolina (16-4, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) will make a Super Bowl week visit to South Florida when the Tar Heels face Miami Thursday night at 7 at BankUnited Center. UNC battled back from a 19-point second-half hole before coming up short in an 83-73 loss to Florida State on Monday. Miami is coming off a 72-64 loss at Boston College on Jan. 31. Carolina is ranked No. 9 in the AP poll and No. 15 in the coaches' poll. Miami is unranked.
AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 16-4 (4-2 ACC), Miami 14-7 (2-5 ACC)
Rankings: North Carolina is ranked No. 9 in the AP poll and No. 15 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll. Miami is unranked.
TV: None.
Radio: TarHeelBlue.com. Tonight's game is available live and on-demand at http://tarheelblue.com/allaccess/. Bobby Hundley (play-by-play) and Jan Boxill (analyst) have the call.
On The Web: TarHeelBlue.com (UNC), HurricaneSports.com (Miami)
MIAMI SERIES NOTES
• North Carolina is 9-2 all-time against Miami, including a 3-1 mark in the Miami/Coral Gables area.
• Carolina won the only matchup in 2009, a 90-76 decision in Chapel Hill.
• The Tar Heels have won six straight in the series, with each game coming since Miami joined the ACC.
Miami's last win in the series was an 86-72 NCAA Tournament victory in 1992.
NOTING THE HURRICANES
• Miami is 14-7 on the season and 2-5 in the ACC following a 72-64 loss at Boston College on Jan. 31.
• The Hurricanes feature two of the league's top three scorers in sophomores Riquna Williams and Shenise Johnson. Williams ranks second in the ACC with 20.3 points per game, while Johnson puts in 17.9 per contest to rank third.
• Senior forward Diane Barnes leads the team in rebounding with 8.5 boards per outing.
LAST TIME OUT
Feb. 1: No. 15 Florida State 83, No. 9 UNC 73
CHAPEL HILL (AP) --- Jacinta Monroe had 16 points and 17 rebounds, and Florida State held on to beat No. 9 North Carolina 83-73 after nearly blowing a 19-point lead. The victory put the Seminoles alone in second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Courtney Ward added 13 points for the Seminoles (19-4, 5-2 ACC), who had their big second-half lead whittled all the way down to a point three times in the final 5 1/2 minutes. But Florida State started an eight-point spurt with about 3 minutes left to finally pull away from the Tar Heels (16-4, 4-2), sealing their first win in Chapel Hill since the 2000-01 season.
TAR HEELS TOUGH TO BEAT AT HOME
Carolina's overall home record since the beginning of the 2004-05 season is 97-4. The Tar Heels have won 51 of 53 in Chapel Hill, including 19 of their last 20 home conference games. In addition, UNC has won 88 of its last 89 non-conference home games.
CAROLINA IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICS
The most recent NCAA statistics report was released on Jan. 31, and the Tar Heels are highly ranked in a number of categories. UNC is among the nation's top 10 in three categories - scoring, blocks and three-point field goal defense. Here are the categories that feature Carolina in the top 25 (all stats per game):
• Scoring - 4th (81.5)
• Blocks - 7th (6.2)
• Three-point Field Goal Defense - 10th (26.2)
• Rebound Margin - 11th (+8.9)
• Scoring Margin - 15th (+17.9)
• Steals - 16th (11.5)
• Won-Lost Percentage - 18th (84.2)
• Assists - 19th (16.2)
FREE THROWS EQUAL WINS FOR DeGRAFFENREID, TAR HEELS
Last Monday's win over NC State marked the 16th time in her career that junior Cetera DeGraffenreid has attempted at least 10 free throws, and the Tar Heels are 15-1 in those games. DeGraffenreid and classmate Italee Lucas both rank among the top 10 in school history in career free throw percentage.
CAROLINA IN CARMICHAEL
• Carolina returned to Carmichael Dec. 29 after a year and a half absence, during which the Tar Heels won 25 of 26 games at the Dean E. Smith Center.
• UNC is 379-84 (.819) all-time in Carmichael, its primary home since the first varsity season of 1974-75.
• Prior to the most recent renovation, the Tar Heels were on quite a roll in the historic gym. Beginning with the 2001-02 season, Carolina posted a 103-6 home record in Carmichael.
DeGRAFFENREID JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB
With seven points in the win over Kennesaw State on Dec. 29, junior Cetera DeGraffenreid became the 31st player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. She currently stands 29th overall with 1,103 points.
LUCAS MOVES INTO THREE-POINT TOP 10 LIST
With three made three-pointers Dec. 13 against Gardner-Webb, junior guard Italee Lucas took over sole possession of 10th place in the all-time UNC career threes list. The Las Vegas, Nev., product has made 128 career threes in 90 games, and is also in the top 10 in career three-point percentage with a 36.0 (128-356) percent mark.
DeGRAFFENREID NAMED TO WOODEN MIDSEASON LIST
The top 21 candidates for the Women's John R. Wooden Award, the nation's most coveted college basketball honor, were named today by The Los Angeles Athletic Club's John R. Wooden Award Committee, and North Carolina junior guard Cetera DeGraffenreid was among those recognized. Because of a tie in the voting, 21 players were named rather than the traditional 20. Composed of the players who will compete for this season's player of the year award, the midseason list is based on individual excellence and team record during the first half of the season.
Just as players who are not on the preseason list are eligible for the Midseason Top 20, players who do not make the Midseason list are still eligible for the national ballot, which will be selected in March and will consist of approximately 20 players, chosen by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board Committee. Players selected to the national ballot will have to be certified by their university as making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.
