Tar Heels move past Colonials

DALLAS – Once North Carolina didn’t have to worry about Whitney Allen, the Tar Heels had no trouble with the rest of George Washington.

Allen’s pesky defense bothered top-seeded North Carolina from the start but her aggressiveness also led to three fouls in the first 7 minutes. As she watched from the bench, Ivory Latta and the Tar Heels went on a 22-5 run that carried them to a 70-56 victory over the fifth-seeded Colonials (28-4) in the semifinals of the Dallas Regional on Sunday night.

Hours after the UNC men missed their chance at making the Final Four, LaToya Pringle had 16 points and 14 rebounds to send the women’s team to their third straight regional final. They’ll play Purdue in a matchup of the top two seeds Tuesday night.

North Carolina (33-3) reached the Final Four last year, and has been ousted by the eventual national champion two years in a row. The Tar Heels have the look of a team that could be cutting down the nets this time.

In addition to being the nation’s top-scoring team, they’re also really good on defense, proving it to a GW club that got this far by stopping people, too.

The Colonials hadn’t seen a team this deep, this talented.

UNC grabbed 23 more rebounds and had 16 steals, many coming between halfcourt and the 3-point line to prevent GW from setting up its offense. At halftime, when North Carolina led by 14 – the same as the final margin – North Carolina’s power forward Erlana Larkins had as many assists as the entire GW team, six each.