Tar Heels must stop messy play

Sloppy.

That’s the best way to describe the North Carolina women’s basketball game Tuesday against George Washington.

Sure, the Tar Heels extended their longest winning streak in almost a decade and absolutely destroyed an inferior George Washington team, but the Tar Heels will have to play much better if they hope to advance to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

Ivory Latta shot the ball well and led the team in scoring once again, but she didn’t have her best ball-handling game of the season.

Perhaps trying for a little too much showtime, Latta threw a number of errant passes and had a team-high seven of North Carolina’s whopping 25 turnovers.

With her skills — no question she was by far the most talented player on the court — Latta should try to concentrate on setting up her teammates and not committing stupid turnovers instead of dancing and trying to pump up the crowd.

Women’s basketball traditionally has much lower assist-to-turnover ratios than men’s teams, but almost two turnovers for every assist can’t possibly be considered good.

UNC also missed 11 free throws. For a team that shoots almost 75 percent from the foul line on the season, 59 percent just isn’t going to cut it.

The sloppy play continued as the teams combined to commit at least 10 traveling violations in the game.

Every North Carolina player who played more than three minutes committed at least two fouls, slowing the pace of the game to a crawl.

The Tar Heels were also not in control of their emotions, as they were whistled for two technicals in the contest.

Although victorious by 24 points, it easily could have been more as the Tar Heels missed a bunch of uncontested layups.

With a probable matchup against Big 12 powerhouse Baylor looming in the Elite Eight, UNC is going to have to take much better care of the ball to pull off what some might consider an upset.

Although UNC garnered the No. 1 seed in the Tempe region, all of ESPN.com’s “experts” like the Lady Bears to advance to the Final Four.

And if the Tar Heels can beat Baylor, they will have to face overall No. 1 LSU in the national semifinals.

But while the Tar Heels played a sloppy offensive game, it was their defensive intensity that enabled the rout.

Combined with George Washington’s ineptness on the basketball court, the stingy UNC defense held the Colonials to just 25 percent from the field.

North Carolina held George Washington’s top two scorers to just 13 points on a combined 3-for-26 from the floor.

UNC also forced 23 George Washington turnovers with a ridiculous 15 steals.

It also seemed at times on Tuesday that some North Carolina defenders purposely allowed the Colonials to drive past them in order to go for a blocked shot.

The strategy worked, as the Tar Heels blocked 10 shots, including six by freshman LaToya Pringle — in only 13 minutes on the floor.

But as the tournament progresses and the opponents become more and more skilled, that kind of strategy won’t work against more explosive players.

The Tar Heels survived the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years and are on their longest winning streak since Marion Jones was in Chapel Hill.

But if they want to compete with the Connecticuts and Tennessees of the women’s basketball world, the Tar Heels are going to have to play a whole lot better.

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