Ivory Latta scored 19 points and hit the go-ahead three-pointer Saturday to help fourth-ranked North Carolina avoid an upset with a 64-57 win over Miami in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals.

Nikita Bell added 13 points and eight rebounds for the top-seeded Tar Heels (25-3), who trailed most of the way before making a late run to reach Sunday’s semifinals.

Tamara James had 13 points and 14 rebounds for the ninth-seeded Hurricanes (13-16), who led by as many as 10 points in the first half and held a three-point edge with two minutes to play.

The Tar Heels-the top seed for the first time in eight years-have high hopes of winning their first tournament title since 1998. But they very nearly saw those dreams end abruptly against a team they beat by 31 points in the regular season.

Miami advanced to the quarterfinals with a 60-58 win over Georgia Tech, when James caught a half court heave and banked in a shot at the buzzer. Despite playing that tough game only 24 hours earlier, the Hurricanes showed so signs of fatigue early and jumped to the lead.

Their zone defense shut down Erlana Larkins and the Tar Heels’ inside game, though North Carolina certainly didn’t help itself with 10 turnovers in the first eight minutes.

The Tar Heels also missed their first 10 shots, going without a field goal for the game’s first seven minutes. James and Miami took advantage, taking a 16-6 lead on a 3-pointer from Katie Hayek midway through the half.

At the start of the 2005 spring semester, a fresh face appeared on the Hurricanes’ women’s tennis team when Austria native Patricia Starzyk transferred to the University of Miami.

While she still adjusts to moving to an entirely unfamiliar country, her transition into the world of American tennis is seamless. In Austria, Starzyk was the national champion from 1994 to 2000. Her abilities and authority on the court make her a dominant part of Miami’s tennis squad. Since the start of her first season as a ‘Cane, Starzyk has maintained an undefeated singles record at the fourth and fifth singles positions.

Starzyk first became interested in the game of tennis when she watched her father and brother play recreationally. She asked her father to teach her and from the age of 10, Starzyk began consistently working at becoming a serious tennis player. As her skills improved, so did the list of accolades that included a number of women’s open tournaments and International Tennis Federation victories in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

Starzyk first initiated correspondence with the University of Miami’s tennis team in an attempt to come to America and play on a competitive team.

“I knew several girls in Austria that went to universities in the United States. For me, it became a dream to play tennis on a team and get an American degree,” Starzyk said. “I had heard of the reputation Miami’s tennis team had so I contacted them.”

After seeing the incredible r

Miami picked the wrong night to try to steal a victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

J.J. Redick scored 29 points and senior Daniel Ewing had his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 assists as No. 6 Duke lambasted the Hurricanes 83-59 on Thursday in Durham, N.C. Shelden Williams, the ACC’s leading rebounder, added 14 points and 12 boards for the Blue Devils (22-4, 11-4), who won their fourth straight game on Senior Night.

Robert Hite led the Hurricanes (16-11, 7-9) with 17 points and Guillermo Diaz had 14, but the rest of the team did little to help its cause against the Blue Devils. Starting center Anthony King was held scoreless and senior Will Frisby only had four points in the loss.

The defeat leaves UM needing an impressive run in next week’s ACC Tournament to secure a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Anything short of that would likely put the Hurricanes in the NIT.

Redick was so dominant early on that he personally outscored Miami for most of the first half. His three free throws gave the Blue Devils a 27-11 lead with about nine minutes left, and their lead grew to as much as 24 points before the Hurricanes cut their deficit to 44-24 at halftime. Redick finished the first half with 18 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

Miami desperately needed to go on a run at the beginning of the second half, but Duke remained in attack mode, going on a 10-0 run to push its lead to 30 points. The Hurricanes never made a substantial dent in their deficit, and both teams emptied their benches, conceding the outcome of the game.

Duke has won six consecutive games against Miami, sweeping this year’s regular season series. The Blue Devils have earned at least 20 victories for nine straight seasons.

UM Head Coach Frank Haith told the Miami Herald that his team was simply overmatched.

“They’re a great team,” Haith said. “Great team. Great players. Great coach. They have the best player in this league on their team, J.J. Redick, and I thought he was outstanding. He made a lot of great plays. We never got going. Stood around a little bit. Our execution was poor…I thought we didn’t play well, but they had something to do with that too.”

Eric Kalis can be contacted at e.kalis@umiami.edu.

Miami’s inaugural ACC tennis match ended in heart-wrenching defeat as the Virginia Tech Hokies beat the ‘Canes 4-3.

The Sunday afternoon match at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center turned into five hours of agonizing play as both teams brought all they had to the court, but, unfortunately for the ‘Canes, all they had just wasn’t enough.

Beginning with doubles matches, the ‘Canes gained the advantage after winning at first and second doubles 8-4 and 8-3, respectively. Singles opened with sophomore Josh Cohen clinching a win after some controversy over bad calls from his Hokie opponent Arvid Puranen. Cohen was able to silence him with his final match point that left Puranen dazed. Cohen, ranked 54th nationally in singles, now has a 6-2 record.

“He wasn’t making very clear calls. In the second set I hit him with a forehand and he claimed never called it out and I assumed it was my game, but fortunately it ended in my favor,” Cohen said.

Then, in an unsuspecting turn of events, all four ‘Canes were down and looking at a third set of play. The first to go down was junior Tim Krebs, who prior to this match had not lost a singles match this season. Playing unlike his usual dominant and aggressive self, Krebs was beat by senior Stephane Rod 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Freshman Vivek Subramanian also had a tough match when he lost his focus after dropping a match point in the second set and never recovered. Subramanian was defeated 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and now has an overall record of 5-2 in singles play.

A light of hope flickered after junior Eric Hechtman’s victory in his third set of play. Hechtman put every last bit of his energy into his singles match, but at one point in his third set he called an injury time out for cramping. He still managed to leave his opponent Albert Larregola in dispute with the referee over the final match point.

Finally, all eyes were on junior John “Shauny” Hoyes. After losing his focus with the score 5-2 win the second set, Hoyes just couldn’t keep his serve up to par until the beginning of the third set. Both players went back and forth between deuce and match point until Angel Diankov got the upper hand as he landed a shot barely out of Hoyes’ reach. That sealed the ‘Canes’ first loss after six straight wins.

The Hurricanes’ next matchup will be at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center Wednesday at 6 p.m. as they host their second ACC match against Wake Forest.

Antoinette Cordova can be contacted at a.cordova1@umiami.edu.

The baseball team entered a new chapter of history, clinching its first official ACC series win over North Carolina State on Sunday at Mark Light Field in front of 2,011 fans by a score of 13-7.

Miami pitcher Brandon Camardese started Sunday in place of Chris Perez, who was suspended indefinitely by Head Coach Jim Morris after he was arrested and charged with DUI on Thursday night. Camardese pitched three innings, giving up two runs on five hits.

After the game, Morris said Camardese hadn’t seen enough playing time and that the plan was to give him about 50 to 60 pitches. He threw 61 pitches.

Ryan Braun and Jon Jay extended their hitting streaks to 16 and 14 games, respectively.

The Hurricanes’ first ACC game took place on Friday night, in which the ‘Canes dominated the Wolfpack 6-1 behind the intimidating pitching of ace Cesar Carrillo, who lasted a season-high 7.1 innings and struck out a career-high 10 batters. In turn, Carrillo gave up only three hits and one run, improving to 3-0 this season and 15-0 for his career. The ‘Canes improved to 24-0 in games that Carrillo has made an appearance.

Miami was also able to capitalize on several N.C. State mistakes as the team scored three runs off of four errors.

Saturday night’s outcome was much different for the Hurricanes, as they were exposed to the reality of playing in the ACC with an 11-5 defeat in front of 3,079 fans.

Miami starter Dan Touchet struggled in his outing, throwing 61 pitches in 2.1 innings of work, striking out three batters and giving up seven runs on seven hits. N.C. State starter Jeff Stallings pitched solidly for 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on nine hits.

Morris stressed the importance of pitching in the loss.

“It starts with pitching and it ends with pitching,” Morris said. “We didn’t pitch well, we didn’t locate well and we didn’t get ahead of their hitters. We’ve got to pitch better than we did today.”

Aside from pitching, the Hurricanes were also undone by a slow start altogether, facing a daunting 9-0 deficit in the sixth inning.

Miami was able to score two runs in the sixth inning off of RBI’s from Brendan Katin and Roger Tomas to make the score 9-2. However, by the time UM was able to generate more offense, it was the eighth inning, with Walter Diaz’ grounder scoring Katin for the fifth and final run.

Morris said the inability to win the pitching battle affected his team’s offense.

“When you get down by that many runs, you can’t run and it takes away your offense to a certain point,” he said.

Ultimately, the ‘Canes were able to get the pitching and timely hitting needed to close out the series with a win.

“N.C. State has a terrific club, and though we’ve got to play better than we did this weekend, I’m happy that we won today,” Morris said.

The ‘Canes return to action tonight when they take on Pittsburgh at Mark Light Field.

Mike Soto can be contacted at m.soto3@umiami.edu.