Larkins Leads Heels into Final Four: UNC Forward Erlana Larkins Scores 29 Points As the Tar Heels De

Mar 28, 05:58 AM

Current Headlines: By Rachel Carter, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.

Mar. 28--DALLAS -- Photographers chased Ivory Latta down the court as she ran to embrace North Carolina's cheerleaders.

On the opposite end, few paid attention to Erlana Larkins as she snipped down her piece of the net. When she climbed off the ladder, she walked to half court with a look on her face that said, "Where's my love?"

Latta has flash, but Tuesday, Larkins brought substance.

UNC's junior forward scored a career-high 29 points with 10 rebounds to give Carolina an 84-72 win over Purdue and a trip to UNC's second straight Final Four.

"That's Erlana. That's Erlana at her best," said UNC forward Rashanda McCants, who then paused and rethought that sentiment. "She could even play better. I'm just glad she's on my team. I really am, because she has the heart of a champion."

UNC (34-3) advances to meet Tennessee, the only other No. 1 seed to advance out of its regional, at 9 p.m. Sunday in Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

Larkins was stellar all night -- and after spending the road trip with Latta, she needed to be. The senior point guard harangued Larkins every chance she got.

"[She said], 'E, don't pass up the ball, you've got one-on-one coverage, you need to take them off the dribble.' I had enough of it all week," Larkins said. "So I figured, why not go out and do it? What will it hurt?"

It hurt Purdue, which got bounced from the NCAA Women's Tournament for the second straight year by the Tar Heels. In 2006, Latta hit a running layup with 2.8 seconds to give her team a 70-68 win over the Boilermakers in the regional semifinals.

The Boilermakers (31-6) tried a gaggle of defenses against Larkins in the post, but they had to also worry about McCants.

The sophomore forward, usually best known as former UNC star Rashad McCants' little sister, played with an aggressiveness she rarely shows. She finished with 15 points -- her best performance for Carolina in an important game.

Of course, McCants also got an earful from Latta, who told her, "We need you on both sides of the court." After ordering her teammates around, Latta scored 21 points on her best shooting performance of the tournament. She entered Tuesday's game shooting 29.4 percent.

With McCants making aggressive drives to the basket, Purdue found itself facing five dangerous scorers -- a bad situation made worse by frequent turnovers.

Purdue knew it had to hold onto the ball if it was going to be successful, but Carolina's hands reached into passing lanes and stripped the ball. The Heels caused 14 of the Boilermakers' 21 turnovers and Purdue made the situation worse by ill-timed unforced errors that killed their second-half comebacks.

The Boilermakers cut it within four twice, but Larkins led the final 7-0 run that put the game out of Purdue's reach.

Carolina's celebration was muted slightly from last year. Yes, athletics director Dick Baddour danced at halftime with Camille Little (10 points) and LaToya Pringle (10 rebounds), but the Heels kept in mind that reaching the Final Four was what they wanted to do all along.

"We're more focused on winning the first game, especially," said Pringle, whose Heels lost to Maryland in the NCAA semifinals last year. "We have the outlook that we've been there and done that. We just want to make it to the championship game and put ourselves into a position to win."

Staff writer Rachel Carter can be reached at 829-8953 or rcarter@newsobserver.com.

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