North Carolina made a case for joining Connecticut and Duke as Tennessee’s most despised archrivals when the second-ranked Tar Heels knocked the #4 Lady Vols from the unbeaten ranks Sunday night in Chapel Hill with a 70-57 victory in front of a sellout crowd at the Carmichael Auditorium and an ESPN audience.
It was UT’s second loss to UNC in an eight-month span. The Tar Heels advanced to the Final Four in March after defeating the Lady Vols 75-63 at the Cleveland Regional championship.
UNC remains perfect with an 8-0 mark while the Lady Vols fall to 6-1. In the overall series UT drops to 12-3.
Candace Parker’s 27 points accounted for nearly half of UT’s offensive output as her teammates struggled to score against an in-your-face relentless UNC defense. The first-team All-American also snared 30 percent of Tennessee’s rebounds with 10 recoveries.
The Lady Vols had their worst field goal performance of the season connecting on just 21 of 58 attempts for a woeful 36%. Carolina didn’t fare much better making 28 of 63 shots for 44 percent.
However, the Tar Heels were dominating on the boards outrebounding Tennessee 43-33.
UNC’s Erlana Larkins duplicated Parker’s double double scoring 17 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to lead her team in both categories as well.
Ivory Latta, the charismatic Tar Heel senior point guard, scored 12 as Parker’s All-America teammate continues to recover from off season knee surgery. Latta’s classmate Camille Little was the third UNC player to score in double digits with 12 points.
UT’s biggest lead occurred in the game’s first two minutes when the Lady Vols had a 7-2 advantage. However Carolina responded with a 12-7 run to take a 16-14 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining before halftime.
By that time, UT had committed six turnovers and had only one offensive rebound to Carolina’s seven. The teams combined finished with 49 turnovers as UNC committed 25 to Tennessee’s 24.
The Lady Vols then went scoreless for almost four minutes until Nicky Anosike’s basket at the nearly seven minute mark broke the drought as UT closed the gap to 23-18.
Meanwhile, UNC led by as many as eight points despite not scoring in the last four minutes before intermission when the Tar Heels left the court with a 30-25 advantage.
UT went on a 5-0 run to open the second half to tie the game at 30 with 18 minutes on the clock. UNC responded by scoring nine unanswered points in a two and a half minute span to lead 39-30.
The Lady Vols were within three points of UNC at the 12:49 mark 41-38 after a 6-0 spurt, but Carolina reacted by out scoring UT 9-2 and widening the gap to 10 50-40.
UT never came any closer as Shannon Bobbitt and Alexis Hornbuckle remained in foul trouble as both women played with four fouls each. Parker also had four personals, but played all but two minutes.
UNC will play UT in Knoxville during the 2007-08 season.
The Lady Vols will play a pair of games at Thompson-Boling Arena this week hosting UT-Martin on Tuesday followed by George Washington University on Thursday.
UTM is the alma mater of UT coach Pat Summitt. This is the first game between the schools in seven years as UT will be looking for their 13th straight victory over the Skyhawks. The Lady Vols clobbered UTM 133-60 in 1999.
UT will also be attempting to remain unbeaten against GWU. The Lady Vols have won the previous seven meetings including last season’s 66-53 triumph in the District of Columbia.
Official Basketball Box Score
Tennessee vs North Carolina
12/03/06 8 p.m. at Carmichael Auditorium, Chapel Hill
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VISITORS: Tennessee 6-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Spencer, Sidney..... f 2-13 1-4 0-0 1 1 2 2 5 0 0 0 0 25
03 Parker, Candace..... f 9-16 0-0 9-13 3 7 10 4 27 1 4 4 3 38
55 Anosike, Nicky...... f 4-6 0-0 1-1 1 5 6 3 9 4 3 3 3 32
00 Bobbitt, Shannon.... g 3-6 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 4 7 3 6 0 0 26
14 Hornbuckle, Alexis.. g 1-7 1-3 2-4 2 4 6 4 5 4 2 0 4 35
02 McMahan, Cait....... 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 7
13 Redding, Dominique.. 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 5
33 Auguste, Alberta.... 2-4 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 4 2 5 0 2 20
44 Fuller, Alex........ 0-3 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 12
TEAM................ 4 1 5
Totals.............. 21-58 3-11 12-19 13 20 33 20 57 15 24 7 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-26 34.6% 2nd Half: 12-32 37.5% Game: 36.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-6 16.7% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 27.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-9 66.7% 2nd Half: 6-10 60.0% Game: 63.2% 4,1
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HOME TEAM: North Carolina 8-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 Larkins, Erlana..... f 7-15 0-1 3-3 6 6 12 1 17 3 1 1 2 37
20 Little, Camille..... f 5-16 0-4 1-2 3 6 9 4 11 4 3 1 4 37
30 Pringle, LaToya..... f 1-3 0-0 3-5 3 1 4 5 5 1 5 2 0 21
12 Latta, Ivory........ g 4-9 2-4 2-3 0 2 2 3 12 8 5 0 2 35
32 McCants, Rashanda... g 3-6 2-3 0-0 1 0 1 3 8 2 2 2 1 24
11 Miller, Alex........ 4-7 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 9 4 5 0 4 26
14 Claytor, Heather.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
15 Dewitt, Christina... 1-1 0-0 0-1 1 3 4 2 2 0 1 0 0 3
51 Breland, Jessica.... 3-6 0-0 0-0 3 3 6 4 6 0 3 2 3 14
TEAM................ 1 4 5
Totals.............. 28-63 5-14 9-14 18 25 43 23 70 22 25 8 16 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-36 33.3% 2nd Half: 16-27 59.3% Game: 44.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-10 30.0% 2nd Half: 2-4 50.0% Game: 35.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 64.3% 1,2
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Officials: Lisa Mattingly, Eric Brewton, Lawson Newton
Technical fouls: Tennessee-None. North Carolina-None.
Attendance: 8010
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Tennessee..................... 25 32 - 57
North Carolina................ 30 40 - 70
Points in the paint-UT 0,NC 0. Points off turnovers-UT 26,NC 13.
2nd chance points-UT 9,NC 11. Fast break points-UT 0,NC 0.
Bench points-UT 4,NC 17. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-UT 2nd-01:07, NC 2nd-00:21.
Largest lead-UT by 5 1st-18:45, NC by 15 2nd-00:21.