Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 4, 1994 TAG: 9404040111
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Smith was coming off a spectacular performance Saturday in a semifinal against Purdue, when she scored a career-high 23 points to go with eight assists, eight rebounds and two blocks.
But it also gave her the opportunity to erase some nasty early-tournament memories.
Smith was ejected from the Tar Heels' second-round game against Old Dominion for fighting with the Monarch's Beth McGowan and was suspended for North Carolina's regional semifinal against second-seeded Vanderbilt. Many thought the Tar Heels would lose to the Commodores without the 6-foot guard, who averaged 15.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game during the regular season.
"I thought maybe I could do something to overshadow the fight," Smith said. "Now people will remember me for this instead of the fight."
Smith made a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, giving North Carolina it's first women's national championship, 60-59 over the Techsters.
\ LINGERING CONCERN: Leon Barmore, Louisiana Tech's coach, still was griping Sunday about having to play the Final Four on consecutive days. In the postgame news conference, Barmore said fatigue definitely played a part in the championship game.
"After this I'm going to go back to the hotel and watch the Duke-Arkansas game. They are playing tonight [Sunday], right?`' Barmore said sarcastically, refering to the men's championship game being played tonight, two days after the semifinals.
\ NOT CHRISTIAN-LIKE: When asked if the name Christian Laettner came up in the waning seconds of Sunday's game, the Tar Heels took little time in offering a resounding "No!" Two years ago, Laettner made a memorable jumper at the buzzer to give Duke - Carolina's archrival - a victory over Kentucky in the East Regional final of the men's NCAA Tournament.
\ WHERE CREDIT IS DUE: North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell praised Virginia and the ACC for their help in the Tar Heels' national championship. UNC went 33-2 this season, with its only losses coming to the Cavaliers.
"Virginia is a great team and we had some great games with them," Hatchell said. "Two or three years ago, we took a lot of licks from every team in the ACC. They all helped us get this championship by setting a level of competition for us to strive for."
\ MORE CHANGES TO COME: This year, the women's NCAA Tournament was expanded from 48 to 64 teams. Next year, the tournament will make more changes in an effort to increase attendance and fan interest.
Linda Bruno, chairwoman of the NCAA Division I women's basketball committee, said the NCAA's executive committee had approved a new format similar to the one used in the men's tournament.
During the first two rounds, four teams will meet at one site - most likely at the four highest seeds in each region - for games Thursday and Saturday or Friday and Sunday. The change means teams won't have to play on consecutive days until the Final Four, a source of discontent among some of the coaches here.
Bruno said the executive committee will review the change again at its May meeting, but that she didn't expect any opposition.
"Most of the coaches are at an interim stage right now," she said. "They understand that we need to be moving toward having a neutral-court situation. This way, at least two teams at every site will be playing on a neutral court."
Most games will take place at the higher seeds, unless a facility is unavailble or inadequate, Bruno said.
The 1995 women's Final Four is in Minneapolis.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB