As her fourth-straight basket dropped through the net"" Erlana Larkins sprinted out of the lane and let out a scream.
""WHOO!""
Those eight points plus two Cetera DeGraffenreid free throws saw No. 2 North Carolina up by 11 against N.C. State" and the Tar Heels followed their senior forward's lead in defeating the Wolfpack 85-79 Monday at Carmichael Auditorium.
The victory was hard-earned due to UNC's struggles in both free-throw shooting and rebounding - usually the Tar Heels' bread and butter.
So how did UNC (26-2" 13-0 in the ACC) pull out the win?
""Good question" said coach Sylvia Hatchell. The rebounding wasn't acceptable" and we have to shoot better from the foul line. They got a lot of second shots. But we were fortunate to win the game.""
North Carolina had its largest rebounding deficit of the season"" and the Wolfpack reeled in eight more boards than UNC.
""Normally" we're animals on the boards Hatchell said. We were like marshmallows tonight" very soft.""
One of the few bright spots for UNC was the lack of turnovers during the game. With only eight" the Tar Heels had their fewest giveaways of the season.
A big part of that was freshman guard Italee Lucas. After struggling during her opening games Lucas has settled down nicely and is starting to find her groove.
Lucas scored six points and had five assists to just one turnover.
In the end UNC just had to keep pounding away in the post - and found success. Despite leaving 21 points on the floor from missed free throws the Tar Heels scored 52 of its 85 points in the paint.
UNC's starting frontcourt of Rashanda McCants LaToya Pringle and Larkins combined for 48 points on 18-40 shooting.
Larkins in particular continued her strong play of late with a team-high 18 points and seven boards.
Larkins has reached at least 18 points in each of her last five games and looks to be hitting her stride at the right time with rival Duke and postseason play coming up fast.
Monday night against the Wolfpack" Larkins had to work through 40 minutes of body-slamming and forearm shivers from N.C. State's post players.
""I had people stepping on my feet and chest-bumping me on the pass" Larkins said. And I just was like 'OK at this point" there's nothing you can do. Just keep beatin' me up - I'm gonna keep scoring.'""
The box score would support Larkins' claim" as N.C. State racked up 28 fouls on the evening.
But UNC was unable to take full advantage of those fouls shooting below .500 from the charity stripe.
Down as many as 17 in the second half N.C. State used UNC's free throw problems to claw its way back into the game in the closing minutes.
The Wolfpack (17-10 5-7) closed to within five with 4:33 remaining in the game but McCants and Pringle both drained cold-blooded jump shots to extend the lead back to double figures and the Wolfpack couldn't get within striking distance again.
Jessica Breland provided a lift for the Tar Heels again off the bench scoring 16 points in 26 minutes. The sophomore scored 10 the last time the two teams met and came up with big plays down the stretch in the most recent rivalry meeting as well" blocking three shots.
""Why not get up for your cross-town rivals?"" Larkins said. ""You're going to go out"" play your hardest - because you don't really care for the people 30 miles down the road.""
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu
