THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 1997 TAG: 9701280415
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DOUG DOUGHTY, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: 51 lines
Everybody had to know the ball was going to Tracy Reid when North Carolina took the floor after its final timeout Monday night.
And it did. But, not necessarily by design.
Reid, the third option on the play, found herself alone under the basket and made a layup with 2.4 seconds left to give sixth-ranked North Carolina the lead over No. 8 Virginia in women's basketball.
Reid added a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining to provide the final margin in a 75-71 Tar Heels victory and tie the school scoring record with 41 points.
``Incredible!'' North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said. ``Tracy's just a big-time player. At halftime, she was 100 percent (from the field) and she even banked in a 3-pointer.''
That might have been the sign that, finally, it would be Hatchell's night at Virginia. In 11 seasons as the Tar Heels' coach, Hatchell was 2-21 at Virginia and 0-11 at University Hall.
``It's going to be a lot nicer on the ride home,'' said Hatchell, who could not remember a time when UNC had come close to winning at Virginia. ``There were a lot of other ones when we left here questioning ourselves.''
It was the 10th straight win for the Tar Heels, who raised their record to 17-1 overall and 8-0 in the ACC, but not without seeing the Cavaliers (14-4, 8-1) erase a 16-point deficit in less than 5 1/2 minutes.
Virginia, which trailed 65-49 with 6:42 remaining, pulled ahead 68-67 on a steal and layup by freshman guard Renee Robinson with 1:15 remaining. It was Virginia's only lead of the game.
Reid, who scored UNC's last 11 points, put the Tar Heels on top 71-68 with a jumper and two free throws before a closely guarded Tora Suber hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 71-71 with 22.7 seconds left.
Virginia was forced to play catch-up virtually the whole night. The Cavaliers didn't score until their 10th possession and trailed 10-0 with more than five minutes elapsed.
``A nightmare,'' Virginia coach Debbie Ryan called it. ``I felt, if we could get on the board, we would be OK. But, we couldn't get on the board. Everything was just a little too fast. Halftime couldn't get there soon enough.''
Suber, who had scored as many as 20 points only twice in Virginia's first 17 games, scored 20 points in the second half and finished with a career-high 35.
``Every minute of the game, Tora was into it,'' Ryan said. ``She laid everything on the line. With five minutes left, I could see the players weren't going to quit.''