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Virginia Eliminated From ACC Tournament By North Carolina
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March 6, 2004
By AARON BEARD
Associated Press Writer
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Nikita Bell scored 18 points and No. 10 NorthCarolina held Virginia to a record-low shooting performance in a 64-45 victoryin the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament Saturday.
Ivory Latta added 17 for the second-seeded Tar Heels (23-5), who shot just39 percent but scored 29 points off turnovers.
North Carolina advanced to Sunday’s semifinals, where the Tar Heels willface the North Carolina State-Clemson winner.
Virginia (13-16) shot 13-for-60, setting tournament single-game records forworst field goal percentage (21.7) and fewest field goals. The previous lowswere 24.6 percent by North Carolina in a 1996 quarterfinal loss to Clemson and14 field goals by N.C. State against Duke in the 2001 championship loss.
Anna Prillaman had 11 points on 3-for-16 shooting to lead the seventh-seededCavaliers, who will miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1983.
Virginia hit three of its first four shots, taking a 7-2 lead on a layup byJocelyn Logan-Friend with 17:26 left in the half. But the Cavaliers suddenlywent cold against North Carolina’s man defense, going 1-for-26 the rest of thehalf and trailing 28-18 at the break.
Prillaman’s 3-pointer with 7:10 left in the half was the Cavaliers’ onlyother field goal, tying the game at 12.
North Carolina wasn’t much better early, shooting just 9-for-30 in the firsthalf. But the Tar Heels had 14 points off turnovers to take the 10-pointhalftime lead.
Then, leading 36-25 after a 3-pointer from LaTonya Blue, North Carolina useda 9-0 spurt to seal the game. Latta hit a 3 and La’Tangela Atkinson added aturnaround jumper in the lane to cap the run, which gave North Carolina a 45-25lead with 13:10 left.
Virginia got no closer than 13 points.