W. Basketball: Rebounding hurts UNC in losses

Just 10 days ago the North Carolina women's basketball team was brimming with confidence.

Rashanda McCants and Italee Lucas chattered excitedly about the impending matchup between their undefeated squad and the country's top-ranked team Connecticut.

Fresh off a 103-74 thumping of then-No. 16 Virginia the Tar Heels had every reason to look forward to the challenge of their upcoming schedule.

But a 1-2 match-up and two ACC games turned into three straight losses and the Tar Heels found themselves in mid-season freefall.

They've fallen from No. 2 to No. 10 in the AP poll in a single week" after losing three in a row for the first time in seven years.

The third defeat was cruelly punctuated with the loss of leading scorer and rebounder Jessica Breland to an ankle sprain in the closing minutes Sunday of a 77-71 defeat at Maryland.

""It's been a tough nine days" with the games and then with the situation with Kay" coach Sylvia Hatchell said of her close friend Kay Yow, former coach at N.C. State, who died Saturday.

But it's a part of playing at this level"" and you just regroup and keep moving on.""

Two of the losses — the Maryland match and a 66-62 loss against Georgia Tech — were reasonably close" but the shattering of North Carolina's undefeated record is still jarring.

The Tar Heels' most pressing problem is easy to see. Stretching back to an overtime win against N.C. State on Jan. 11 North Carolina has been outrebounded in four out of its last five games.

The worst was against Connecticut when the Huskies dominated the glass by a 53-32 margin including 21 offensive rebounds. In that game no Tar Heel managed more than six boards.

Curing the rebounding woes will be no simple task especially if Breland misses games. The junior forward is leading the team with 7.2 rebounds per game this season just ahead of McCants.

McCants will need to keep up her production while also staying clear of foul trouble. She was sorely missed as she sat on the bench with four fouls against Maryland and she picked up her fifth soon after re-entering — her third foul-out of the season which leads the team.

Iman McFarland who missed two games with an ankle injury and returned Jan. 22 at Georgia Tech has started most of the year primarily because of her rebounding.

She averages fewer than five points per game but ranks third on the team with 5.3 rebounds per contest.

Hatchell also could turn to Christina Dewitt a 6-foot-2-inch junior who has performed well in a reserve role at times but saw only four minutes combined in the last two games. Dewitt led the team with nine rebounds against UVa. in only 12 minutes.

But the bottom line is that no matter who gets playing time" the Tar Heels need better production on the glass up and down the roster.

""We've got to play even more physical and tougher"" Hatchell said. The game at Georgia Tech was extremely physical.

""We've got to react to that. We've got to play a lot tougher"" but we're learning.""



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.