University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 8 Carolina Looks To Rebound At BC
January 7, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2011
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. --- North Carolina will look to avoid its first 0-2 start to Atlantic Coast Conference play since 1992-93 when the Tar Heels face Boston College Sunday afternoon at 1 at Conte Forum. Carolina is 14-1 on the year (0-1 in the ACC) after a 71-70 loss at Georgia Tech on Thursday. Boston College is 13-2 following a last-second 80-78 win over Harvard on Thursday. UNC is ranked No. 8 in both the AP poll and the coaches' poll. Boston College is unranked but receiving votes in both polls.
AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 14-1 (0-1 ACC), Boston College 13-2 (0-0 ACC)
Rankings: North Carolina is ranked No. 8 in both the AP poll and the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll. Boston College is unranked but receiving votes in both polls.
TV: RSN. Mike Hogewood (play-by-play) and Debbie Antonelli (analyst) have the call.
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network, a division of Learfield Communications. Dave Nathan (play-by-play) has the call.
On The Web: TarHeelBlue.com (UNC), BCEagels.com (Boston College)
BOSTON COLLEGE SERIES NOTES
• North Carolina is 4-1 all-time against Boston College, including a 2-0 mark in Chestnut Hill.
• UNC lost to BC for the first time in 2010, a 69-62 setback in Chapel Hill.
• Prior to BC joining the ACC in 2005-06, the two teams had never met in women's basketball.
NOTING THE EAGLES
• Boston College is 13-2 following a last-second 80-78 win over Harvard on Thursday.
• Senior center Carolyn Swords is third in the ACC in scoring (18.3 ppg) and leads the nation in field goal percentage, making 71.8 percent of her shots. Swords is also the ACC leader in career field goal percentage.
• Swords and fellow senior Stefanie Murphy are both in the top five in the ACC in rebounding. Murphy is second in the league with 8.7 boards per contest and Swords is fith with 8.5 per outing.
• BC is coached by former UNC standout Sylvia Crawley. Crawley was a member of the 1994 NCAA Championship team and has her jersey honored in the Carmichael Arena rafters.
• Crawley scored 1,158 points at Carolina, good for 29th in school history.
LAST TIME OUT
Georgia Tech 71, No. 8 UNC 70
ATLANTA (AP) --- Metra Walthour hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 23.6 seconds remaining, Tyaunna Marshall scored 24 points and Georgia Tech beat No. 8 North Carolina 71-70 on Thursday night. Jessica Breland, who missed a jumper at the buzzer, hit a pair of free throws to give the Tar Heels (15-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) a seven-point lead at the 1:40 mark, but North Carolina didn't score again. Italee Lucas led North Carolina with 21 points and Breland finished with 15.
DeGRAFFENREID NEARING SCHOOL FREE THROW MARK
Senior Cetera DeGraffenreid is nearing the school record for career free throws made. With 488 career makes, DeGraffenreid is just one behind Erlana Larkins' school mark of 489 set from 2004-08. With 12 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 331st in Carolina history, good for 10th place overall.
• In addition to moving back into the all-time top 10, Carolina's ranking was the 302nd under head coach Sylvia Hatchell.
• This week is UNC's 124th week in the AP top 10 since the beginning of the 1999-2000 season. Only Connecticut, Tennessee, Duke and Stanford have more appearances over that time period.
DeGRAFFENREID LEADS NATION IN ASSIST-TURNOVER RATIO
Despite averaging a career-low 7.4 points per game entering play this week, point guard Cetera DeGraffenreid is off to an incredible start to her senior season. DeGraffenreid has tallied 91 assists against just 17 turnovers through the season's first 14 games, making her the nation's leader in assist-turnover ratio (5.4). She is also among the NCAA leaders in steals per game (3.4) and assists per game (6.5) and leads the ACC in all three categories.
LUCAS ENTERS ACC CAREER THREE-POINT LISTS
Senior guard Italee Lucas has recently entered the ACC career top-25 lists in three-pointers and three-point attempts. With 185 career made threes, Lucas currently ranks 23rd in ACC history, while her 509 career attempts are good for 24th.
