University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 11 Carolina Hosts No. 2 Connecticut Monday
January 16, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2011
CHAPEL HILL --- North Carolina renews its annual series with Connecticut Monday as the Tar Heels welcome the two-time defending national champions to Carmichael Arena for a 7 p.m. Martin Luther King Jr. Day tilt. Carolina is 16-1 on the year after an 83-76 win over NC State on Friday night. Connecticut is also 16-1 following a 78-55 win over Louisville on Saturday. UNC is ranked No. 11 in the AP poll and the coaches' poll. Connecticut is ranked No. 2 in both polls.
AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 16-1, Connecticut 16-1
Rankings: North Carolina is ranked No. 11 in the AP poll and the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll. Connecticut is ranked No. 2 in both polls.
TV: ESPN2. Pam Ward (play-by-play), Carolyn Peck (analyst) and Rebecca Lobo (sideline) have the call.
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), UConnHuskies.com (Connecticut)
CONNECTICUT SERIES NOTES
• Carolina is 5-5 all-time against Connecticut, including a 2-1 mark in Chapel Hill.
• The teams have traded three-game winning streaks over the last six seasons. UNC won three straight from 2005-07 before a trio of Husky victories from 2008-10.
• Monday's game will mark the seventh straight year in which the two teams have met in the regular season.
• UConn won the last meeting in Chapel Hill, 88-58, in the Smith Center in 2009. The Tar Heels won the last meeting in Carmichael, 82-76, in 2007.
NOTING THE HUSKIES
• Connecticut is 16-1 following a 78-55 win over Louisville on Saturday.
• Senior Maya Moore leads the Huskies in both scoring and rebounding with 23.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Moore ranks third in the nation in points per game.
• Like the Tar Heels, Connecticut is among the top 10 in the nation in 10 different statistical categories. The Huskies currently lead the nation in field-goal percentage at 50.3 percent.
LAST TIME OUT
No. 11 UNC 83, NC State 76
CHAPEL HILL (AP) --- Italee Lucas scored 19 points as No. 11 North Carolina blew nearly all of a 24-point lead in the second half before holding on to beat rival North Carolina State 83-76 on Friday night. Chay Shegog scored 13 points for the Tar Heels (16-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who avenged last year's surprising home loss to the Wolfpack by pushing ahead by double figures late in the first half and holding on the rest of the way. North Carolina led by 16 at halftime and increased that margin to 62-38 early in the second half.
TAR HEELS IN CARMICHAEL ARENA
• Carolina is 390-86 all-time in Carmichael, with a 17-3 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 .819 (433-96, 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.
BRELAND, LUCAS NAMED TO WOODEN MIDSEASON TOP 20 LIST
• The John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 list was announced Jan. 11 by the Los Angeles Athletic Club and North Carolina seniors Jessica Breland and Italee Lucas were among the selections. The list is comprised of 20 student-athletes who, based on their individual performance and team records, are the current frontrunners for college basketball's most prestigious honor.
• The Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the Elite Eight round during the NCAA Tournament, making it unique among college postseason awards. Transfers, freshmen and medical redshirts are eligible for this midseason list but did not appear on the preseason Top 30. All players nationally who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered for the official voting ballot released in March. The National Ballot consists of approximately 20 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA.
DeGRAFFENREID SETS NEW SCHOOL FREE THROW MARK
Senior Cetera DeGraffenreid now owns the school record for career free throws made. With two makes against NC State on Jan. 14, DeGraffenreid now has 491 career makes, passing former Tar Heel All-America forward Erlana Larkins' mark of 489 set from 2004-08. With nine more makes, DeGraffenreid will become only the fifth player in ACC history to reach 500 career made free throws.
ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL NOTES
• According to longtime women's basketball writer and AP poll historian Mel Greenberg, Monday's ranking in the AP top 25 was the 333rd in Carolina history, good for 10th place overall.
• In addition being in the all-time top 10, Carolina's ranking was the 304th under head coach Sylvia Hatchell.
DeGRAFFENREID LEADS NATION IN ASSIST-TURNOVER RATIO
Despite averaging a career-low 7.6 points per game so far in 2010-11, point guard Cetera DeGraffenreid is off to an incredible start to her senior season. DeGraffenreid has tallied 103 assists against just 24 turnovers through the season's first 17 games, making her the nation's leader in assist-turnover ratio (4.29). She also ranks third in the NCAA in steals per game (3.6) and eighth in assists per game (6.4) and leads the ACC in all three categories.
