GREENSBORO, N.C. – After defeating Virginia Tech Friday night, North Carolina forward Erlana Larkins gave Ivory Latta a piggy-back ride into the locker room.

On Saturday, both Latta and Larkins shared the load, as the duo carried the Tar Heels to a 78-72 victory, knocking out the Terrapin women’s basketball team in the semifinals of the ACC tournament.

Larkins controlled the game in the first half, scoring 10 points, collecting seven rebounds and forcing the Terp post players into foul trouble before Latta – the game’s most valuable player with 19 points – helped deliver the knockout punch in the second half.

“I think UNC was a lot more active getting her touches in the first half,” Terp coach Brenda Frese said of Larkins. “She’s big, strong, physical and a really difficult match-up for us inside.”

North Carolina scored the first four points and never trailed during the game. The Tar Heels built the lead to nine points with just less than six minutes to play, but the Terps went on a furious 10-1 run capped off by a Kristi Toliver jump shot to tie the game with two minutes remaining.

With the game on the line, Latta once again shined. She responded to the comeback with an assist to Latoya Pringle, and a layup on consecutive possessions to put the Tar Heels up by four. After Pringle blocked a Shay Doron 3-pointer, Latta connected on two free-throws to ice the game.

“We’ve been in many situations where we’ve had big leads and teams have come back, so what we tried to do was stay together and not get hard on each other,” Larkins said. “We thought if we stayed together we could get the win.”

The two teams traded blows for much of the first half, but the Terps’ shooting became cold. They had a tough time putting the ball in the net to keep up with North Carolina’s quick attack and only converted on two field goals in the final 10 minutes, 16 seconds of the half.

“They beat you up, they pressure you, and they make you uncomfortable on the offensive end,” said Marissa Coleman, the Terps’ leading scorer and rebounder with 18 and eight, respectively.

Trailing by 10 early in the second half, the Terps began one of their many spurts. But Laura Harper and Crystal Langhorne each picked up their fourth fouls with more than 11 minutes left in the game, slowing down the momentum.

Frese was forced to shuffle her lineup at every whistle to avoid one of her starters being disqualified, and the Terps struggled to find consistency with the perpetually changing lineups.

“We got tentative when Crystal and Laura picked up their fourth foul,” Frese said. “That was a big change in the game – when they got more tentative with how they were defending.”

With the Terps’ post players in foul trouble, reserve forward Jade Perry shut down Larkins on the offensive end.

“It’s hard when coaches are throwing three different people at you,” Larkins said. “I’m a big woman, but three women coming at you for an entire 40 minutes – it kind of wears you down.”

Larkins’ teammates picked up the slack though. Freshman Jessica Breland poured in 14 points and was what Frese called the X-factor in the game.

After becoming frustrated with Latta’s colorful actions in the teams’ first meeting, the Terps once again had to endure the wide-eyed guard’s screaming and chest-pounding. The excitable guard got the job done and put a stamp on the game by winking at Lamont Jordan and the Terp crowd.

On Sunday, Latta and Larkins led North Carolina again, this time past N.C. State, for their third straight conference title.

Now the Terps will enter the NCAA tournament, likely as a No. 2 seed. They have lost all four games they have played against Duke and North Carolina – the two teams they played in last year’s final four and two likely No. 1 seeds in this season’s tournament.

For Doron, who has accomplished just about everything but winning a conference championship, it was another opportunity gone by the wayside. She knows there is still basketball to play though.

“It’s tough finishing my career without one,” Doron said. “But all the losses we’ve had this year, all the losses we’ve had at Maryland – a national championship makes that all better.”

Contact reporter Mark Selig at mseligdbk@gmail.com.