University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 8 Carolina Hosts NCCU In Final Pre-Conference Game
January 2, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2011
CHAPEL HILL --- North Carolina opens 2011 at home Monday when the Tar Heels welcome local foe North Carolina Central to Carmichael Arena at 7 p.m. Carolina is 13-0 on the year after an 83-62 win at Gardner-Webb on New Year's Eve. North Carolina Central is 2-10 on the season following a 67-56 loss to UNC Asheville on Dec. 29. UNC is ranked No. 8 in the latest AP poll and No. 10 in the coaches' poll. NCCU is unranked.
AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 13-0, North Carolina Central 2-10
Rankings: North Carolina is ranked No. 8 in the AP poll and No. 10 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll. North Carolina Central is unranked.
TV: Carolina All-Access. Tonight'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), NCCUEaglePride.com (NCCU)
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL SERIES NOTES
• North Carolina is 3-0 all-time against NCCU, with the all three meetings coming in Chapel Hill.
• The 2007 matchup was the season opener for both teams and NCCU's first game as a Division I school.
• UNC's 109-32 win over the Lady Eagles in 2007 was Carolina's largest-ever win.
• The two teams last met March 14 of last year, an 88-66 Tar Heel victory in the regular season finale for both teams.
NOTING THE LADY EAGLES
• North Carolina Central is 2-10 on the season following a 67-56 loss to UNC Asheville on Dec. 29.
• Senior forward Jori Nwachukwu leads the Eagles in scoring and rebounding, averaging 13.7 points and 8.2 boards per contest.
TAR HEELS IN CARMICHAEL ARENA
• Carolina is 389-86 all-time in Carmichael, with a 16-3 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 .818 (432-96, 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. 10 UNC 83, Gardner-Webb 62
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. (AP) --- Italee Lucas scored 23 of her 29 points in the first half, and No. 10 North Carolina rolled to an 83-62 victory over Gardner-Webb on Friday. Lucas, a 5-foot-8 senior guard and the team's leading scorer with a 17.9 average, hit five 3-pointers in the first half and went on to finish 10 of 16 from the field, 5 of 6 on 3s. It was another dominant performance by the Tar Heels (13-0), who pulled out to a 40-18 lead, led 54-32 at halftime and never let Gardner-Webb seriously challenge in the second half.
NOTING THE WIN OVER GARDNER-WEBB
• Cetera DeGraffenreid handed out 15 of Carolina's 20 assists on the day, one shy of the single-game school record of 16 set by Coretta Brown in 2000.
• Italee Lucas scored 29 points, including 23 in the first half. Lucas has scored mored than 20 points in a half on three other occasions, including a career-best 28 in the second half against NC State in 2010.
