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The ACC Tournament offers North Carolina a second chance and Tar Heels' coach Sylvia Hatchell is ready to take it for her team.
Picked as one of the preseason favorites, UNC has limped through the second half of the season with losses in seven of eight games before a surprisingly complete victory over No. 6 Duke to end the regular season Sunday.
"Hopefully, this will get us started for the ACC Tournament," Hatchell said of the win over Duke. "We've had a lot of things go against us this season, and they don't always break your way."
Now the Tar Heels hope to build upon the confidence they found against Duke as they open tournament play today at 3 p.m. against Maryland at the Greensboro Coliseum.
UNC and the Terrapins square off in the 8-vs.-9 matchup that seemingly is more worthy of a game later in the tournament.
But that's not the way the conference records fell for either team. Both enter the tournament with respectable records that should get them serious consideration for NCAA Tournament play, at least that is what Hatchell believes. The Tar Heels posted an 18-10 record, while the Terps finished 18-11.
The Tar Heels are led by junior guards Italee Lucas and Cetera DeGraffenried. Lucas, who topped 20 points eight times this season, was a second-team All-ACC performer. DeGraffenreid, who had the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference, made the third team for the second straight year.
UNC also has a stopper in the middle with 6-6 freshman Waltiea Rolle, who has tallied 68 blocked shots so far.
Maryland counters with sophomore center Lynetta Kizer, a third-team All-ACC performer, and all-freshman team member Diandra Tchatchouang.
"It's a new season for us, going down to the ACC Tournament," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. "Like we told our players, everybody that goes in there is 0-0. Now, you've got to be able to come in fighting for your life."
While UNC enters the tournament on a high note, Maryland comes in after a convincing loss against Florida State, which is the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Otherwise, the teams are strikingly similar, their records notwithstanding. Both teams have nine ACC Tournament titles to their credit, including the 2009 championship that went to Maryland.
The Tar Heels matched their lowest seed coming into the tournament at No. 8. The most recent time they were so low in the ACC pecking order was in 1991, losing to top-seeded Virginia in the quarterfinals. UNC is making its second appearance in opening-round play. The Tar Heels beat Georgia Tech in the 2001 in their only other first-round game.
North Carolina and Maryland have met nine times in the tournament, with the Terps holding a 6-3 advantage. Recent matchups between these teams have foretold the champion -- they've met in three of the past four tournaments and the winner has gone on to claim the title.
It may be a little tougher for that coincidence this year, though. The winner advances to the quarterfinals against top-seeded Duke on Friday.
