bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668
CHAPEL HILL -- Rivals Duke and North Carolina will meet to end the regular season today (3 p.m., Fox Sports), and while bragging rights are always at stake, a win would mean more for the slumping Tar Heels at Carmichael Arena.
The No. 6 Blue Devils (24-4, 12-1 ACC) already have clinched the ACC regular season championship with a victory over No. 21 on Virginia on Friday and will be the top seed in the ACC Tournament, which starts Thursday.
The Tar Heels, on the other hand, are looking to break a two-game losing streak and keep their NCAA Tournament chances alive without having to win the conference tournament.
UNC (17-10, 5-8) is ranked ninth in the ACC and is coming off a 64-57 loss at No. 22 Georgia Tech on Friday -- its seventh loss in the past eight outings.
Sophomore guard She'la White said the losses have just built up, and the Tar Heels, who have not missed an NCAA Tournament since the 2000-01 season, are struggling with their confidence right now.
"It's kind of hard to have confidence after a loss of a game we should've won, but we just have to keep our heads up," White said during an interview Thursday. "We have to win."
UNC coach Syliva Hatchell said she believes her young team has the talent to win, but sometimes her players get on the court and think too much. She said the team's confidence level is nowhere near where it needs to be.
"We have struggled, but then also we have played well at times. We just haven't been consistent," Hatchell said. "In all the games we've played, we've had moments where we've played really well. But then when we go on a dry spell or something happens to us out there. We miss a go-to type player or a stopper on defense."
That go-to player could be Jessica Breland. The would-be senior, who was picked for the preseason All-ACC team, has not played this year after undergoing treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, which she was diagnosed with in May.
And even though Breland's presence might have made a difference, junior guard Cetera DeGraffenreid pointed to another reason for the Tar Heels' woes -- effort.
"Sometimes you'll have these spurts where we're all clicking and playing together and everything's flowing right and everybody's going hard and you see amazing defense translating into amazing offense," DeGraffenreid said. "And sometimes you just see us out there slacking off and missing defensive assignments and not going hard."
DeGraffenreid said it has been frustrating, and as one of the leaders she has been trying everything she can to get the Tar Heels clicking. The guard said there have been team meetings, meetings with coaches, one-on-one meetings with coaches. and she has spent time watching film with the coaches.
"It's like [we're] looking for answers and not finding the answers because we come out here in practice and everything flows so well and we go so hard," DeGraffenreid said. "And then we get on the court and it's something totally different."
UNC's youth might also be part of the reason for the inconsistent play. The Tar Heels have nine freshmen and sophomores, and Hatchell said they threw too much at the younger players too early. In recent weeks the coaching staff has tried to simplify things, and Hatchell said that has helped some.
"But I'm not going to make any excuse because we recruited them and they're going to be good eventually," Hatchell said. "They're learning, so it's just something we're going through."
