Hurricanes Edged By Tar Heels In ACC Quarterfinals, 64-57
March 5, 2005
By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) – Ivory Latta scored 19 points and hit the go-ahead3-pointer Saturday to help fourth-ranked North Carolina avoid an upset with a64-57 win over Miami in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals.
Nikita Bell added 13 points and eight rebounds for the top-seeded Tar Heels(25-3), who trailed most of the way before making a late run to reach Sunday’ssemifinals.
Tamara James had 13 points and 14 rebounds for the ninth-seeded Hurricanes(13-16), who led by as many as 10 points in the first half and held athree-point edge with 2{ minutes to play.
The Tar Heels – the top seed for the first time in eight years – have highhopes of winning their first tournament title since 1998. But they very nearlysaw those dreams end abruptly against a team they beat by 31 points in theregular season.
They shot just 29 percent and went 18-for-28 at the line, struggling toovercome a determined effort by the Hurricanes.
North Carolina trailed 55-52 late before going on a 9-0 run, led by Lattaand Bell.
First Latta hit two free throws to cut the deficit to one point, then hit a3-pointer off a feed from Bell for a 57-55 lead with 2:08 left.
Bell then came up with two big plays. With North Carolina struggling much ofthe day against Miami’s zone defense, Bell flashed to the top of the key tocatch the ball, then made a spinning move to the basket for a 59-55 lead with1:33 left.
After a Miami timeout, Bell stole a pass near midcourt for a breakawayattempt. She missed the layup, but Camille Little got the rebound and picked upthe fifth foul on James with 1:19 left.
Little closed the run with two free throws, giving the Tar Heels a 61-55edge.
Miami advanced to the quarterfinals with a 60-58 win over Georgia Tech, whenJames caught a halfcourt heave and banked in a shot at the buzzer. Despiteplaying that tough game only 24 hours earlier, the Hurricanes showed so signsof fatigue early and jumped to the lead.
Their zone defense shut down Erlana Larkins and the Tar Heels’ inside game,though North Carolina certainly didn’t help itself with 10 turnovers in thefirst eight minutes.
The Tar Heels also missed their first 10 shots, going without a field goalfor the game’s first seven minutes. James and Miami took advantage, taking a16-6 lead on a 3-pointer from Katie Hayek midway through the half.
The Tar Heels, who came in averaging 80 points a game, didn’t take theirfirst lead until Larkins completed a three-point play to make it 46-45 with9:26 left. Miami responded with a run to push the lead back to six, butcouldn’t hold off the Tar Heels down the stretch.
