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North Carolina-Gonzaga Preview

Mar 19, 2010 - 11:31 PM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

North Carolina (19-11) at Gonzaga (27-4), 10:30 p.m. EDT

Few teams are entering the NCAA tournament with as much momentum as Gonzaga.

Perhaps no school secured a bid despite struggling as severely down the stretch as did North Carolina.

The seventh-seeded Zags look to win their 19th straight overall when they take on the 10th-seeded Tar Heels in the first round of the Sacramento Regional on Saturday.

The Bulldogs (27-4) have won their last 18 games, tying them for the fourth-longest active winning streak in Division I. Two of the teams with longer streaks enter the tournament as No. 1 seeds (Connecticut and Stanford).

Gonzaga went 14-0 in West Coast Conference regular-season play and also secured the tournament title, defeating Pepperdine 76-48 in the championship game. The Zags have outscored their last six opponents by an average of 37.0 points, while holding the opposition to 29.2-percent shooting during that stretch.

With four players averaging in double figures, Gonzaga's offense was just as impressive as its defense. The Bulldogs ranked fifth in the nation with 80.9 points per game, led by senior Heather Bowman's 15.6 average.

"I think this is the most dominant team that's ever played in this conference and I'm not going out on a limb there," said coach Kelly Graves, who coached two previous Gonzaga teams to perfect regular seasons.

"I think there are numbers to back that up. The way we did it has been very impressive, I'm not going to lie. We never really even had an off game. We passed every test."

Gonzaga returned four starters from last season's team, which earned a No. 12 seed and upset Xavier in the first round to earn the program's first NCAA tournament victory.

North Carolina (19-11) is a tournament fixture, but struggles down the stretch put a ninth straight appearance in doubt. The Tar Heels had appeared a lock after moving up to No. 4 in the AP poll in early December, but went 3-8 over their last 11 games, including an 83-77 loss to Maryland in the first round of the ACC tournament.

This is the lowest seed ever for North Carolina in the NCAA tournament, with the previous low coming in 1992 when they were a No. 7 seed. Regardless, the Tar Heels will be looking to improve on their 15-3 record in first-round games and avoid their first opening-round exit since 2004, when they lost to Middle Tennessee.

"We're in a little different situation than we are used to being in, but I think our team will step up to the challenge of being an underdog," coach Sylvia Hatchell said.

With eight of North Carolina's 13 players underclassmen, Hatchell will look to her few veterans like Cetera DeGraffenreid to lead the Tar Heels. The junior guard is averaging 14.3 points and 5.0 assists. Fellow Junior Italee Lucas is averaging a team-high 14.7, but totaled 19 over her last four games.

This is the second time these teams have met. North Carolina won 101-63 in 2006.