Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 2, 1994 TAG: 9404020089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Lin Dunn will soon be sporting a new tattoo.
That's right, a tattoo on the grandmotherly-looking coach of Purdue's women's basketball team. But a promise is a promise to Dunn, who pledged she would get a tattoo if her Boilermakers made it to the Final Four.
Today, Purdue (29-4) meets North Carolina (31-2) in the NCAA Tournament semifinals at Richmond Coliseum. The game will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the other semifinal between Alabama and Louisiana Tech, which begins at noon.
"Some of the players have tattoos and when they got in in the fall I was concerned," Dunn said. "I said `Do you realize in 20 years, you'll still have that?'
"We started joking around . . . and I said if you get to the Final Four, I'll get a tattoo. As we kept winning and winning and winning, they would ask `Where are you going to put that tattoo? What are you going to get?' I'll tell you it's going to be the world's smallest tattoo and it's going to be where no one can see it."
Perhaps Dunn should consider a sun emblem in honor of Leslie Johnson, nicknamed "Baby Barkley," the Big Ten Conference freshman of the year who has been the force behind the Boilermakers.
Johnson, a 6-foot-1 forward/center, has averaged 18.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game in leading Purdue (29-4) to its first Final Four appearance.
"It was a goal I had when I signed, something I always wanted," Johnson said. "I knew we were going to be young, but there was no doubt about it that we had a lot of talent."
The Purdue roster has no seniors, one reason the team was picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten in the preseason. The Boilermakers, champions of the West Regional, took that as insult.
"It definitely motivated us and at that point we all said, `We'll just have to prove them wrong,' " said junior guard Cindy Lamping, who averages 7.2 points per game.
Lamping will be among the Purdue players charged with shutting down North Carolina All-American Tonya Sampson, who scored 30 in the Tar Heels' 81-69 victory over top-seeded Connecticut in the East Regional final last week.
The 5-9 senior guard/forward averages 17.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game and is the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,106 points. Sampson also has 112 steals and 122 assists and is comfortable from 3-point range (49-167).
"We've got some challenges as far as who is going to guard [Sampson] because she's big, she's strong and she's quick," Dunn said. "She can shoot the 3, she can post up, and she's a senior, so she's highly motivated."
On the other wing, the Tar Heels have Stephanie Lawrence, who made 58 of 143 (41 percent) 3-point attempts this season and is averaging 7.4 points per game. Lawrence, a 6-1 junior, also shoots 87 percent from the free-throw line.
Purdue also will try to slow down Marion Jones (14.3, 4.3), a fired up freshman guard who also competes for the Tar Heels' track team.
Inside, North Carolina relies on Charlotte Smith, a 6-foot junior forward, and Sylvia Crawley, a 6-5 senior center, who are drawing attention in Richmond for their ability to dunk.
Smith (15.2 points, 8.8 rebounds) and Crawley (13.5, 5.3) will pair up against Purdue's Johnson and Stacey Lovelace. Lovelace, a 6-4 sophomore forward, averages 11.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. In addition, she's had 57 blocks this season.
Both Dunn and North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell drew parallels to the the teams in regard to speed, size and bench play.
"Purdue is a lot like our team," Hatchell said. "Both teams are very athletic and I think we match up well. . . . It should be exciting."
Said Dunn: "In a lot of ways we're very similar. We've got some excellent players to help us off the bench, players who can come in and contribute, so it's going to be fun."
by CNB