Tar Heels prepare for top-seeded Cardinal

When the North Carolina women’s basketball team plays Stanford on Saturday in the third round of the NCAA tournament, there will be more on the line than just a coveted spot in the Elite Eight.

A win against the top-seeded Cardinal would give three Tar Heel seniors just a little more time in the North Carolina jersey.

And Italee Lucas, Jessica Breland and Cetera DeGraffenreid have made it clear to their younger teammates that they simply aren’t ready for their careers to be done.

“(The seniors) have just been encouraging us and making sure everybody’s on the right track and their mind is ready and focused,” sophomore guard Tierra Ruffin-Pratt said. “They don’t want it to be their last game. They’re more focused and prepared because they don’t want it to end.”

But beating Stanford (31-2) is easier said than done. The Cardinal made headlines in December when they ended Connecticut’s 90-game winning streak, and has played near-flawless basketball ever since.

Stanford handily beat UCLA on March 12 to earn its sixth-straight Pac-10 tournament championship.

Lucas couldn’t deny the Cardinal’s almost perfect tournament resume. But when UNC steps on the court Saturday in Spokane, Wash., the Tar Heel senior said none of those accomplishments will matter.

“Once you get to the Sweet 16, anything can happen,” she said. “People’s fight, people’s hunger in this tournament could definitely surpass any talent.”

Junior forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike leads the Cardinal in scoring and boasts one of the best field-goal percentages in the nation. Freshman forward Chiney Ogwumike joins her sister on the starting lineup and averages 12 points per game.

Shutting down the Ogwumike sisters will be a challenge for the Tar Heel defense, and the Cardinal has the fourth-best scoring offense in Division I women’s basketball.

But Lucas refuses to let anything — or anyone — break her focus.

“You want to go on the court with no regrets, no what-ifs,” Lucas said. “I tell the team, no excuses. If you’re at one level and you feel like you’re tired, there’s another level you can reach.”

To have a chance at beating the Cardinal and continuing its 2010-11 campaign, North Carolina will need to play spot-on defense.

In the Tar Heels’ first two tournament games, that’s exactly what Ruffin-Pratt has been responsible for.

The sophomore guard halted Fresno State’s 3-point game in the Tar Heels’ matchup with the Bulldogs last weekend, and she racked up a total of 19 rebounds and 17 points from the bench in the first- and second-round wins.

Though she has only started 16 games for the Tar Heels this season, Ruffin-Pratt is well aware that beating the Cardinal will require a whole-team effort.

“It’s going to take all of us, from the highest scorer to the last man on the bench,” Ruffin-Pratt said. “Everybody’s going to have to put in effort, whether it’s cheering on the bench or giving everything you have on the court even if it’s just for a couple seconds.”

Going into Saturday’s match, the North Carolina squad might not have the national acclaim of the women in red. But one thing the Tar Heels do possess is a confidence that is unmatched.

“We’re on a roll right now,” Ruffin-Pratt said. “If we keep playing like we’ve been playing, then we can beat a lot of people.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.