No. 5 North Carolina 102, Clemson 61

1/6/2006 10:39 PM

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Camille Little knew in pregame warmups that she was headed for a good game.

Little scored 16 points and La'Tangela Atkinson added 14 to lead No. 5 North Carolina to a 102-61 victory over Clemson on Friday in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

``I could feel everything was going well in the pregame (shooting),'' Little said. ``The ball just rolled off my fingers right tonight.''

North Carolina (14-0, 1-0) went over 100 points for the second straight game and scored its most points since a 106-40 win over East Tennessee State on Nov. 24, 2002.

Erlana Larkins had 13 points and six assists and Ivory Latta finished with 11 points for the Tar Heels.

``We had some really good moments out there, but there were still times we sputtered and stalled,'' North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said.

North Carolina shot 65 percent from the field in the first half and led 61-28 at the break. Little hit six of her first nine shots.

The Tar Heels opened the second half with an 8-0 run and was never seriously threatened after halftime. Latta hit a 3-pointer with 8:47 left to give North Carolina an 88-45 lead.

``We did a little better in the second half than we did in the first,'' Clemson coach Cristy McKinney said. ``We had to set new goals at halftime. At least we didn't give up 60 points in the second half.''

The Tar Heels shot 54 percent for the game and finished 10-for-22 from 3-point range.

Clemson (6-9, 0-1) lost to North Carolina for the ninth straight time despite 14 points from D'Lesha Lloyd and 11 each from Amanda Frist and Tasha Phillips.

The Tigers committed 29 turnovers.

``We knew coming in that we had to take care of the ball, but we just didn't do that,'' McKinney said. ``North Carolina scores a lot of points off its defense.''