Heels Clean Up on Glass, Outlast Terps in Double OT

North Carolina 97, Maryland 86

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Jan. 26 -- Laura Harper knows exactly why fourth-ranked Maryland lost to No. 3 North Carolina, 97-86, in double overtime on Saturday afternoon.

"Rebounding," Harper said. "Clearly, we didn't rebound as hard as we should've, and they rebounded really hard. That's the game: rebounding."

Led by the powerful duo of Erlana Larkins and LaToya Pringle, the Tar Heels (18-2, 5-0 ACC) dominated the Terrapins underneath the basket, particularly on the offensive end. Larkins, who finished with 25 points and 18 rebounds, and Pringle, who added 31 points and nine rebounds, proved too much for Maryland (22-2, 6-1), which lost both Harper and Jade Perry to fouls before the game was over. That left Crystal Langhorne on her own to contain Larkins and Pringle, too tall a task for even an all-American.

"I've never seen 13 offensive rebounds," Langhorne said of Larkins's total. "Erlana's a great player, but for somebody to have that many is not too great. It was tough, of course, without Laura and Jade."

Langhorne led the Terrapins with 23 points. Marissa Coleman had 20 points and 13 rebounds. Harper had her second consecutive double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Bolstered by the enthusiastic crowd of 7,914 at Carmichael Auditorium, North Carolina showed why it is the top rebounding team in the ACC. The Tar Heels were relentless, particularly on the offensive end. They outrebounded Maryland, 59-46 overall and 26-17 in offensive rebounds. They turned those offensive rebounds into 26 points.

As great as the rebounding disparity was, the difference in fouls was even more significant. North Carolina has a well-deserved reputation as an aggressive defensive team, but Maryland paid the price for its physical play. The Terrapins accumulated 28 fouls compared to 19 for the Tar Heels. Six of the eight players who entered the game for Maryland finished with four or more fouls. No North Carolina player had more than three. The Tar Heels, who didn't shoot a free throw in the first 20 minutes, made more foul shots than Maryland took.

After Kristi Toliver (20 points) sank a jump shot to give Maryland a 71-67 lead with 3 minutes 35 seconds left, the Terrapins did not score again in regulation. North Carolina tied the score at 71 on Pringle's three-point play with 46 seconds remaining. On Maryland's next possession, Coleman tried to run an isolation play, but her shot was blocked by Jessica Breland. North Carolina had two chances to win the game in the final seconds of regulation, but both shots came up short.

Neither team led by more than two in the first overtime. Harper fouled out trying to stop Pringle with 1:52 left in the first overtime, and Pringle made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the score at 77. Perry scored on the Terrapins' next possession to put them ahead by two. Maryland's lead was short-lived, however. Rashanda McCants's layup tied the score at 79, sending the game to double overtime.

Although North Carolina looked weary going into the second overtime, the Tar Heels surged to an early lead. Perry picked up her fifth foul just five seconds into the overtime trying to stop Larkins. That put Maryland down two of its stronger post players. Daron Park, who coaches Maryland's road games because Brenda Frese is unable to travel because of her pregnancy, initially appeared ready to insert freshman Drey Mingo, who had played a total of three minutes in the last three games. Instead, he decided to go with a small lineup and sent in Ashleigh Newman, the hero of Maryland's overtime win at North Carolina two years ago.

North Carolina capitalized on its height advantage, with Larkins and Pringle scoring all of its points in the overtime period.

"I just think that we were taking too many quick shots toward the end instead of setting up our offense and getting a quality shot," Coleman said. "It's early in the season. There are things we can learn from. It's better now for this loss to happen than in March."