Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / April 2, 2007, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
VOLUME 115, ISSUE 22 ROCKY AT THE TOP Saddled with foul trouble, UNC crumbles down stretch BY MATT BROOKS SENIOR WRITER CLEVELAND Moments after their 56-50 semifinal loss to Tennessee, a game which they led for more than 14 minutes in the second half, the Tar Heels in the locker room were silent aside from occasional sniffles. The players, huddled in their lockers, heads lowered, were motionless except for the stray tear trickling down a cheek. The silent emotion in that room spoke louder than the cheers of the Tennessee faithful after Candace Parker grabbed the last rebound and the clock ran out. In their return trip to the Final Four the one that was supposed to be different from last year’s loss to eventual National Champions Maryland UNC came up just short once again. Back at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena the same site where UNC defeated the Lady Vols a year ago to advance to the Final Four in Boston Tennessee overcame a woeful 27 percent shooting performance, the lowest ever for a winning Final Four team, and capitalized on 29 Tar Heel turn overs to finally exact its revenge. With UNC leading by 10 at the eight-minute mark, it looked like seniors Ivory Latta and Camille Little would get their shot to end their illustrious Tar Heel careers with a win. But Tennessee had other ideas. “At the eight-minute mark I basically said, “We don’t want to go home,’” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. “(UNC) didn’t want to go home. And I said, “We’re not leaving here without a national championship.” From that moment until the final buzzer, Tennessee held the Tar Heels to just two points on two Ivory Latta free throws with 3:43 remaining. Meanwhile, the Lady Vols put 20 points on the board en route to the team’s 12th national title game appearance. In a brutal war of attrition, the Tar Heels suffered one too many casualties down the stretch. With just more than five minutes left in the game and the Tar Heels holding onto a quickly vanishing six-point lead, senior forward Camille Little drove in for a layup against Tennessee’s Sidney Spencer and was whistled for a charge, her fifth foul. Less than a minute later, fellow starter LaToya Pringle went up for a rebound against Parker and was called for her fifth. One starter disqualification would’ve made it dif ficult for the Tar Heels to hold on for the win two proved to be too much to ask. “I think LaToya and I coming out early was a big key,” Little said. “Just having two starters out was important to us. They were trying to make a run and go at players who hadn’t been in the game and it turned out in their favor.” Rashanda McCants and Latta led the Tar Heels with 13 points each while Pringle who had four blocks —and Little did their best to hold it down on SEE FINAL FOUR, PAGE 5 ... m\ H' My jw 1 B HfwJ i iT jHT FB UNC forward LaToya Pringle stymies Tennessee's Nicky Anosike during the first half. Pringle fouled out. announcement HEAR THE NEWSPAPER We're proud to announce today's debut of our podcast, The Daily Newscast. Visit our Web site and listen to editors talk about today's issue. Serving the students and the University community since 1893 Bcttlg Mttl Ijk Dr. % i m IK* rm HHr Hr Wk ' '? V J^^H Hr ; ;^H DTH PHOTOS/LAUREN COWART North Carolina senior point guard Ivory Latta addresses the media following the Tar Heels' stunning defeat. Latta, who earned back-to-back first team All-America honors, ends her career as UNC's all-time leading scorer. UNC at loss for words Low-scoring game leaves team befuddled BY GREGG FOUND SENIOR WRITER CLEVELAND lt was a game of indescribable feelings for North Carolina. Playing in her final college game arid missing her last chance at a national title, Ivory Latta couldn’t really express her thoughts after the game. Forced to watch the final five minutes of her career from the bench after fouling out, Camille Little struggled for words. “Unfortunately, we lost,” she said. “Things just didn’t go our way.” Trying to rationalize an ugly, sloppy game that no one saw com ing between two flashy women’s bas ketball teams, coach Sylvia Hatchell strained to explain the loss. “I’m really disappointed,” she said. “And just really proud of my team. So that’s really about it.” No one wanted to talk or even try to give a speech on what happened on the Quicken Loans Arena floor. | www.dailytarheeLcom | Hatchell simply hugged her son and whispered with him outside the locker room. Usually one to willingly dissect a game with the media, Hatchell wanted to find some privacy as soon as possible. But there were indescribable feelings during the game too. UNC found itself with a 12-point lead with only eight minutes left in the game after surviving foul trouble with three of its starters, a turnover laden first half and a basket that seemed smaller than the ball. The Tar Heels suffered an astoundingly low-scoring night from Erlana Larkins. The scoring machine who poured in 29 points against Purdue in UNC’s previous game was held to four. How could they explain that? Up by double digits against the hottest team in the country, they only needed to hold on for a few minutes to give themselves a shot at the national tide. Then, before they had a chance Online I daiht.arheel.com WINGING IT Raptors swoop into Carolina Inn for exhibit on birds of prey IN UNISON Unity Conference focuses on the state of gay rights in America DAY IN THE LIFE Students fast for 30 hours to experience the problem of hunger to realize their situation, Nicky Anosike hit a layup and the game was tied. Two minutes remained on the clock and momentum resided with the orange-clad fans singing “Rocky Top” during every timeout. How could they explain that? Looking at the stat sheet after the game, the Tar Heels saw that they held Tennessee to 27 percent shooting, while shooting 35 per cent themselves, and still lost. They forced UT into 21 turnovers, but committed 29 of their own. They held one of the top-scoring teams in the country to 56 points, but only managed 50 points of their own. How could they explain that? How could anyone? This was a game, a result, that no one saw coming. No prognosticator imagined that both Little and LaToya Pringle would foul out of the game within seconds of each other, and with more than four minutes left in the game. SEE SPEECHLESS, PAGE 5 campus | page a ! SUCCESS ON THE COURT Duke and UNC students come together during the weekend for the annual basketball marathon, raising about $70,000 for Health, Hoops and Hope. Hundreds turn out to Ray’s funeral BY KELLY GIEDRAITIS AND WHITNEY KISLING ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY EDITORS CONCORD When Jason Ray told a story, he started with the ending. Friends said his backward storytelling was an attempt to draw you in. It forced you to beg for the whole tale. For Ray, the ending was never the end. And when he died last week, the end of his life wasn’t the end of his story. At his funeral Saturday, friends and family came together to share their anecdotes about the UNC senior who dedicated his 21 years to serving God and others. As the Rameses mascot for three years, Ray used his ener getic personality to brighten many UNC fans’ days. But he was more than a mascot “That fun-loving person wasn’t just someone he became when he Jason Ray connected to people inside and out of his Rameses mask. put on the mascot suit,” said Jason Douglas, associate worship pastor at The Summit Church in Durham. “He was that way in person.” Through words and music, his friends and fam ily unveiled the passionate life of the man behind the mask. About 1,000 friends and family members from across the country gathered at Concord First Assembly to hear the stories. Many had come the day before to pay their respects to Ray’s family. A slow-moving line wrapped around the SEE FUNERAL, PAGE 5 if' \ ■ !9 I DTH/WHITNEY KISLING Friends Erik Tumblom, Nick Barry and Jay Spencer talk after the service. Tumblom sang a tribute song to Ray. Junior set to serve as next DTH editor BY MONIQUE L. NEWTON STAFF WRITER Junior Erin Zureick remembers looking up at the three members of The Daily Tar Heel management team at the DTH orientation her freshman year. “They looked so confident,” she said. “At that point, you say, That’s where I want to be.’” And that’s exactly where Zureick, University editor, will be next year. The journalism and political science double major was selected to be the 141st editor in chief Saturday. Zureick and freshman Andrew Dunn were interviewed by an 11- member committee composed of DTH staffers and community members. “I just tried to portray myself as someone who realized the needs of the community and someone who is a confident leader,” she said. “I’m very committed to every facet of the newsroom being rep resented and that everyone has a voice.” Kelly Gilmer, a committee University Editor Erin Zureick will be the DTH's 141 st chief. member and DTH editor in chief in 1994-95, said she was impressed with Zureick’s vision of serving the Chapel Hill and Carrboro communities and her ideas for interactive features on the Web site. “Erin offered a platform that was really sophisti cated,” Gilmer said. One of her platform goals is a focus on training staff writers and editors. SEE EDITOR, PAGE 5 this day in history APRIL 2,1977... Students endure the last day of 85- degree heat in the Undergraduate Library. Officials promise to turn on air conditioning despite a mandate to conserve energy. MONDAY, APRIL 2, 2007 weather jkHfc Partly cloudy W H 83, L 55 index police log 2 calendar 2 games 9 opinion io sports 12
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 2, 2007, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75