Latta proves to be UNC's 'Answer'

The first thing any casual fan would notice about the North Carolina women’s basketball team is the ridiculous disparity in height between UNC guard Ivory Latta and some of the other players on the court.

She’s seemingly a full head shorter than almost every other player, and I didn’t think she would be able to overcome the height difference and have an impact on the Tar Heels’ game against Duke on Monday.

I thought wrong.

From the moment the contest started, Latta was all over the court, leading the fast break, diving for loose balls, crashing the boards and making steals.

At one point in the second half, Latta was the only defender back on a one-on-one fast break and she made a nice transition block on a significantly taller player.

Not only is Latta arguably UNC’s best player, but she is clearly the team’s vocal leader as well.

The most animated Tar Heel, Latta was constantly pumping up the crowd and had no qualms with screaming at her teammates.

Since it is human nature to draw comparisons to things you are familiar with, I tried to think of who Latta most reminded me of on the court.

After conferring with a friend, we concluded that Latta is women’s college basketball’s equivalent of Allen Iverson.

Not only is there the height disparity, but Latta actually moves like The Answer on the court.

She drives with no fear into the lane — almost always surrounded by taller opponents — and can either lay it in or make a spectacular pass to a teammate.

On her only two-pointer in the game, Latta drove to the lane, ran into a big body, pulled it out and hit a fade-away 10-foot jumper.

Both players do some of their best work in transition, and perhaps the most striking comparison is that neither player is afraid to have the ball in a big situation.

When the Tar Heels’ 15-point lead had evaporated to just six with four minutes to play, Latta, who was 2-for-15 from the field at the time, drained a 3-pointer from the wing.

Seemingly unable to control the humongous smile across her face in the post-game interview, Latta made it clear that she is never afraid to take the big shot.

“I don’t do much thinking about whether I’m missing or hitting,” she said. “I just feel it. When I shoot in rhythm, I’m deadly. So that’s what I was thinking about, shooting in rhythm.”

Like Iverson on most nights, her stat line wasn’t incredibly impressive, but not many people watching the game would have known that.

She led the Tar Heels in scoring, and while she only had two assists, the entire UNC team only had 6.

She can perform all over the court — she also contributed with three steals and five boards.

With Duke trailing by two with under 20 seconds to go, Alison Bales missed two foul shots, and Latta grabbed the board and was fouled, sending her to the line with a chance to ice the game.

Latta, a 92 percent free-throw shooter who was five-for-five from the line Monday, calmly stepped up and drained both free throws to effectively close out the win.

Like Iverson, she is also the team’s workhorse. Latta played all 40 minutes of the Duke game and is averaging a team-high 32 minutes a game to go along with her 15.2 points a game.

After the monumental victory, UNC’s first over Duke in 12 tries and the first over a No. 1 team in 20 attempts, Latta ran around the court pumping up the crowd and screaming at the top of her lungs.

Latta said she actually contemplated a soccer move after the victory, pulling a Brandi Chastain — taking off her shirt in a victory celebration.

In an un-Iverson like move, she decided against the controversial celebration, letting the victory speak for itself.

Contact David Moses at dmoses@email.unc.edu.