March 5, 2006
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GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Top-ranked North Carolina avenged its only loss and won another Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship Sunday.
Erlana Larkins scored a career-high 26 points and had 12 rebounds to lead the Tar Heels past fourth-ranked Maryland 91-80, giving the program its seventh ACC tournament title and likely locking up a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament.
Ivory Latta also scored 26 to earn MVP honors for North Carolina (29-1), which has won seven straight games since a 98-95 overtime home loss to the Terrapins last month.
Jade Perry scored 18 points to lead five players in double figures for the Terrapins (28-4), who were seeking an unprecedented ninth title but first since 1989.
Maryland had won the past two meetings, including last month's thriller when the Terps rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit and forced the extra period on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Ashleigh Newman.
This time, North Carolina led nearly the entire way and didn't let up. The Tar Heels led by seven at halftime and increased that margin to as many as 13 points. Maryland got as close as three points late, but Larkins and Latta kept the Tar Heels from repeating that first collapse.
Larkins, a first-team all-ACC pick, went 9-for-14 from the field and 8-for-10 from the line. Latta, who was named the ACC's player of the year on Friday, also had four assists to go with five steals.
They got plenty of help from Camille Little, who scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half after getting into early foul trouble, and La'Tangela Atkinson, who finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
North Carolina also helped itself by controlling the glass, taking a 48-37 rebounding advantage and hitting 21 of 27 free throws - both areas that hurt the Tar Heels in the loss. North Carolina shot 13-for-27 at the line and was outrebounded 49-48 in the first meeting.
It was a disappointing end to the tournament for the Terrapins, who beat second-ranked Duke in Saturday's semifinals to end a 14-game losing streak in the series. Avenging a pair of losses to the Blue Devils to go with an earlier win against the Tar Heels might have put the Terrapins in position to earn a top seed in the NCAAs.
North Carolina led 42-35 at halftime and kept the pressure on by forcing the ball inside throughout the second half. The Tar Heels scored all 32 of their second-half points from the field in the paint, and they came in a variety of ways.
They came on penetration by Latta, who scored on one of her several runners to answer a 3-pointer from Marissa Coleman and make it 71-65 with 8:44 left. They came off stickbacks from Larkins, who grabbed a Latta miss and put it back in for an 85-78 lead with 3:26 left.
Larkins even tallied her only assist by drawing the double team and finding LaToya Pringle for a layup to make keep the margin at six with about 8 minutes left.
Maryland got as close as 79-76 on a layup by Newman, who scored all 14 of her points in the second half, with 5:19 left. But Larkins answered with a pair of free throws, followed by another runner from Latta and Larkins' stickback with more than 3 minutes left.
