Top-ranked Tar Heels begin tourney play in stacked region

3/16/2006 2:12 AM

North Carolina may be the nation's top-ranked team, but it faces a tough road to the Final Four in Boston.

The No. 1 seed Tar Heels (29-1) begin NCAA tournament play in a daunting Cleveland Regional with a first-round matchup Saturday against 16th seed UC Riverside at Nashville, Tenn.

Besides North Carolina, the Cleveland bracket includes perennial-power Tennessee as its No. 2 seed, a third-seeded Rutgers club which went unbeaten in Big East play, and No. 4 seed Purdue, an elite Big Ten team and former NCAA tournament winner.

``It's like the Final Four!'' Tar Heels coach Sylvia Hatchell said. ``I don't know how any bracket can get tougher than our bracket. But hey, that's just the way it is. We have to go play those games.''

Provided it advances to the second round, North Carolina could face a stiff challenge. The winner of this matchup will face either No. 8 seed Vanderbilt or ninth-seeded Louisville. Nashville's Memorial Gymnasium is the Commodores' home court, making a contest with Vanderbilt a virtual road game.

``I think right now that's probably the downfall of the NCAA tournament,'' Hatchell said. ``I really think that with the pairings that just came out there's definitely some red flags ... that shows there needs to be some tweaking done with the selection process, and that's one of them.

``Every top coach in the country of a top 10 or 15 school is still trying to figure out how they come up with this.''

North Carolina won its second consecutive ACC title by beating then-No. 4 Maryland 91-80 on March 5. Hatchell celebrated by cutting down the nets with the same pair of golden scissors the team used after winning its only national championship in 1994.

``I was happy to be able to use those gold scissors because they have a lot of special memories,'' Hatchell said, ``and we would like to use them again.''

Junior guard Ivory Latta scored 26 points against Maryland and was named ACC tournament MVP for the second consecutive year. Sophomore forward Erlana Larkins had a career-high 26 points and 12 rebounds. Latta, Larkins and junior forward Camille Little all were named to the All-ACC tournament first team.

The Highlanders (16-14) enter their first NCAA tournament having won nine straight games and 11 of 13 after opening the season 5-12. Amber Cox's 3-pointer with 1:10 remaining lifted UC Riverside to a 59-58 upset of top-seeded UC Santa Barbara in last Saturday's Big West title game.

``This is our holy grail,'' Highlanders coach John Margaritis said. ``As far as the Big West is concerned, it completes the circle.''

Center Kemie Nkele is UC Riverside's leading scorer, averaging 16.2 points. She scored 13 points in the Big West tournament final to earn tournament MVP honors.

``It's amazing,'' Nkele said after reaching the NCAA's. ``It's something I never felt before.''