University of North Carolina Athletics
On March 28, 2006, Ivory Latta led UNC to the Final Four and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Cleveland Regional.
March Memories: Latta and Carolina Rolled To the 2006 Final Four
March 28, 2020 | Women's Basketball
No one forgets that smile.
Ivory Latta ranks as the leading scorer in UNC women's basketball history, and she led the Tar Heels to back-to-back Final Fours in 2006 and 2007. But the thing Carolina fans may remember most about her is her smile. She wore it along with her Tar Heel uniform from 2004-07, a span during which UNC went 121-17.
Perhaps the biggest of the many victories over those four years, producing perhaps the biggest smile, was 14 years ago today, on March 28, 2006. In Cleveland, Latta led the Tar Heels to a 75-63 Elite 8 win over Tennessee and a spot in the Final Four. It was the Tar Heels' first appearance in the national semifinals since winning the NCAA Championship in 1994.
The Tar Heels' 2006 NCAA Tournament started in Nashville, at Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym. Top-seeded UNC cruised past UC Riverside 75-51 in the first round and then beat the host Commodores 89-70, with 27 points from Latta, then a junior.
That put the Tar Heels in the Sweet 16 in Cleveland, where UNC faced Purdue in a game that went down to the wire. A Latta lay-up with 2.8 seconds to play gave the Tar Heels a 70-68 win and kept the season going. As the final buzzer sounded, Carolina's point guard was lying on the court, felled by a cramp in her calf after hitting the winning shot.
"The Purdue game was an awesome game," Latta says now. "I was probably nervous the whole game. We as a team wanted to get to the Final Four so bad, so we knew we had to play extra hard. I do remember hitting the lay-up at the end and cramping because I wasn't drinking water or Gatorade."
The dramatic win advanced UNC to the Elite 8 and a matchup with Tennessee for a spot in the Final Four. Coming into the game, the Tar Heels were 1-12 all-time against the Lady Vols, but this time Carolina made history of its own. UNC led by as many as 16 points in the first half, and no late-game heroics were required to earn the win.
During the game, Latta memorably flexed her muscles at NBA star LeBron James, who was watching the action from a suite in his Cleveland Cavaliers' home arena. She also played all 40 minutes for UNC, scoring 20 points to go with nine assists and four steals, and was named the Cleveland Regional's Most Outstanding Player.
"I was so focused on the game so I didn't know if (James) was there or not," Latta says. "But I do remember putting my muscles up – I think after an and-one – and they showed LeBron doing the same thing. That was a crazy feeling."
The Tar Heels improved to 33-1 with the win. Their season would end in the following game with a loss to eventual-champion Maryland, the only team to have beaten Carolina during the regular season. It was a rematch of the 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship, which UNC won 91-80 on March 5. This time, however, the Terrapins came out on top, winning 81-70 in Boston.
The Tar Heels would make a repeat trip to the Final Four the following year, when Latta was a senior. "When I came to UNC, reaching the Final Four and winning a national championship was on my mind," she says. "Reaching the Final Four two times in a row was very special. And getting all that Nike gear was the best."
The gear was certainly smile-worthy, as were so many of the moments while Latta wore Carolina blue. The memories still make her grin today.
"Playing at Carolina was the best thing that happened to my life," she says. "I was able to develop relationships and bonds that will last forever."
Ivory Latta ranks as the leading scorer in UNC women's basketball history, and she led the Tar Heels to back-to-back Final Fours in 2006 and 2007. But the thing Carolina fans may remember most about her is her smile. She wore it along with her Tar Heel uniform from 2004-07, a span during which UNC went 121-17.
Perhaps the biggest of the many victories over those four years, producing perhaps the biggest smile, was 14 years ago today, on March 28, 2006. In Cleveland, Latta led the Tar Heels to a 75-63 Elite 8 win over Tennessee and a spot in the Final Four. It was the Tar Heels' first appearance in the national semifinals since winning the NCAA Championship in 1994.
The Tar Heels' 2006 NCAA Tournament started in Nashville, at Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym. Top-seeded UNC cruised past UC Riverside 75-51 in the first round and then beat the host Commodores 89-70, with 27 points from Latta, then a junior.
That put the Tar Heels in the Sweet 16 in Cleveland, where UNC faced Purdue in a game that went down to the wire. A Latta lay-up with 2.8 seconds to play gave the Tar Heels a 70-68 win and kept the season going. As the final buzzer sounded, Carolina's point guard was lying on the court, felled by a cramp in her calf after hitting the winning shot.
"The Purdue game was an awesome game," Latta says now. "I was probably nervous the whole game. We as a team wanted to get to the Final Four so bad, so we knew we had to play extra hard. I do remember hitting the lay-up at the end and cramping because I wasn't drinking water or Gatorade."
The dramatic win advanced UNC to the Elite 8 and a matchup with Tennessee for a spot in the Final Four. Coming into the game, the Tar Heels were 1-12 all-time against the Lady Vols, but this time Carolina made history of its own. UNC led by as many as 16 points in the first half, and no late-game heroics were required to earn the win.
During the game, Latta memorably flexed her muscles at NBA star LeBron James, who was watching the action from a suite in his Cleveland Cavaliers' home arena. She also played all 40 minutes for UNC, scoring 20 points to go with nine assists and four steals, and was named the Cleveland Regional's Most Outstanding Player.
"I was so focused on the game so I didn't know if (James) was there or not," Latta says. "But I do remember putting my muscles up – I think after an and-one – and they showed LeBron doing the same thing. That was a crazy feeling."
The Tar Heels improved to 33-1 with the win. Their season would end in the following game with a loss to eventual-champion Maryland, the only team to have beaten Carolina during the regular season. It was a rematch of the 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship, which UNC won 91-80 on March 5. This time, however, the Terrapins came out on top, winning 81-70 in Boston.
The Tar Heels would make a repeat trip to the Final Four the following year, when Latta was a senior. "When I came to UNC, reaching the Final Four and winning a national championship was on my mind," she says. "Reaching the Final Four two times in a row was very special. And getting all that Nike gear was the best."
The gear was certainly smile-worthy, as were so many of the moments while Latta wore Carolina blue. The memories still make her grin today.
"Playing at Carolina was the best thing that happened to my life," she says. "I was able to develop relationships and bonds that will last forever."
Carolina Stories: The Reese Brantmeier Project
Wednesday, November 05
UNC Field Hockey: Tar Heels Clip Cards in ACC Tourney Opener, 2-1
Tuesday, November 04
Head Coach Bill Belichick Pre-Stanford Press Conference
Tuesday, November 04
Rapid Reactions pres. by Modelo – Men’s Basketball vs. Central Arkansas – November 3, 2025
Tuesday, November 04