1994 NCAA Championship game: UNC 60, Louisiana Tech 59 Charlotte Smith had to wait for the again in Charlottesville on Feb. 9, 83-74. replay to watch the biggest shot in North There were a few other close calls, Carolina women’s basketball history fall though. At the ACC Tournament in Rock through the net. She was the one who Hill, S.C., the defense stiffened to beat released it, just before time expired in the Clemson 65-64 and advance to the final. 1994 NCAA Championship game, but Having survived that scare, Carolina final- ultimately her line of vision was blocked. ly got the better of Virginia, 77-60 in the “I didn’t look at it,” Smith said. “And championship game, to claim its first con- the mob got me before I knew it had gone ference crown since 1984. in.” After advancing through first and sec- That mob, made of her teammates, had ond-round NCAA Tournament games in good reason to be excited. Just three years Chapel Hill, UNC traveled to the East earlier, when the seniors on that team were Regional at Rutgers. There, the Tar Heels freshmen, North Carolina had finished at beat Vanderbilt 73-69, despite playing the bottom of the Atlantic Coast without Smith, who served a one-game Conference. So to have hit those heights, suspension for fighting during the second 1994 NCAA Champions earning the program’s–and the confer- round win against Old Dominion. ence’s–first NCAA title, was almost too Nathan Darling Crawley picked up the slack with a sea- much to be believed. After hitting the winning shot, Charlotte Smith enjoys the postgame bedlam. son-high 22 points. An 81-69 victory The success had been building steadily. against Connecticut put North Carolina in Since the 1991 season, when UNC fin- its first Final Four. ished 12-16 for its fourth consecutive losing season, the Tar Heels had put togeth- In Richmond, Va., UNC enjoyed its trip but didn’t forget it was there to take care er back-to-back 20-win campaigns. Sylvia Hatchell’s team headed into the 1993- of business. The Tar Heels put on a dunking display at practice, then got serious 94 season with five returning starters and an outstanding freshman point guard and won easily in the national semifinal against Purdue, 89-74, to advance to the named Marion Jones, who would go on to gain fame on the track. NCAA Championship game. First, however, Jones made an indelible mark at UNC in basketball. By the On April 3, Louisiana Tech led through most of the first half, but never by more fourth game of the season, Jones was a starter, and she went on to set an ACC than five. The Tar Heels trailed by two when they got the ball out of bounds on a record for steals by a freshman. Joining her in Carolina’s regular lineup were four possession arrow with a mere 00:00.7 showing on the clock. After two timeouts, experienced players: seniors Sylvia Crawley and Tonya Sampson, and juniors Lawrence inbounded the ball to Smith on the right wing. The rest, as they say, is Stephanie Lawrence and Smith. history. The Tar Heels opened the 1993-94 season with 11 consecutive wins and climbed “It makes it even more special to know that we came from the bottom to the top,” to No. 4 in the country before falling at home to Virginia, 77-75 on Jan. 12. The Crawley said after the game. “This is the way I’ve always dreamed about it, and Cavaliers would prove to be the only team to defeat UNC that season, winning my dreams have finally come true.” 1994 NCAA Championship Game NORTH CAROLINA 60, LOUISIANA TECH 59 April 3, 1994 • Richmond, Va. (11,966) La. Tech FG 3FG FT REB PF A BS ST TP M A. Brown 2-6 0-1 0-0 2 3 0 0 0 4 13 Johnson 6-15 0-2 0-0 10 2 1 0 1 12 40 Spurlock 1-4 0-0 0-0 6 4 0 1 2 2 29 Thomas 6-14 1-1 2-2 4 3 1 0 2 15 24 Williams 4-19 0-4 0-1 6 0 1 0 1 8 27 Neal 0-3 0-0 6-8 2 2 2 1 4 6 26 Brown 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 5 0 0 2 2 18 Riser 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 Walker 5-7 0-0 0-0 5 0 0 0 0 10 20 Team 6 Totals 25-70 1-8 8-11 44 19 5 3 12 59 .357 .125 .727 UNC FG 3FG FT REB PF A BS ST TP M Smith 7-19 1-3 5-7 23 2 2 2 0 20 40 Sampson 9-25 3-7 0-0 8 4 1 0 2 21 38 Crawley 4-7 0-0 6-8 4 2 1 3 1 14 39 Jones 0-5 0-1 2-3 2 3 3 1 0 2 22 Lawrence 1-2 1-1 0-0 4 1 5 0 1 3 40 Cooper 0-2 0-1 0-1 0 0 0 0 1 0 12 McKee 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Suddreth 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 Gear 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 1 0 0 0 6 Team 6 Totals 21-61 5-13 13-19 48 14 13 6 5 60 .344 .385 .684 La. Tech 32 27 – 59 North Carolina 32 28 – 60 Turnovers: La. Tech 15 (Neal 4); UNC 21 (Smith, Crawley 6) Officials: June Courteau, John Morningstar Page 96 2003-04 North Carolina Women’s Basketball 1994 NCAA Champions “When I was recruited out of high school, the team had only won a few conference games the year before I attended. UNC was not the powerhouse of today. It just a short three-year span, Coach Hatchell took that team from last in the confer- ence (or close to it) to National Champions. It brings tears to my eyes to relive that moment. As each player, each coach, and each manager knows, it was a journey. A journey that started years earlier. A journey that ended in a special moment for each of us. It was not an easy season nor an easy journey. “We fought for every opportunity that was afforded us. But what meant the most for each of us was that we truly believed – believed in ourselves, believed in our coaches, believed in our university. We believed it was our turn. “This team holds a bond to one another that no one can ever break. No matter the miles between us, the months between phone calls, or the years between visits, we are still connected by a great moment in time.” – Stephanie Lawrence Yelton (Junior on the ’94 team) Sylvia Crawley, Sylvia Hatchell and Tonya Sampson celebrate the victory. At right, Crawley and Charlotte Smith field questions at the postgame press conference. Nathan Darling 2003-04 North Carolina Women’s Basketball Page 97 Celebrating the 1994 NCAA Championship Squad 1994 NCAA Champions Front (left to right): Manager Carla Chapman, asst. coach Emily Johnson, Tonya Sampson, Sylvia Crawley, undergraduate asst. Toni Montgomery, manager Lynn Glover Back (left to right): Academic advisor Jan Boxill, asst. coach Ann Hancock, asst. coach Andrew Calder, Kim Rouse, Marion Jones, Stephanie Lawrence, Charlotte Smith, Maja Vukojicic, Gwendolyn Gillingham, Carrie McKee, Tonya Jackson, Tonya Cooper, Lori Gear, Jill Suddreth, video technician Edgar Farmer, head coach Sylvia Hatchell The title team: Where are they now? Sylvia Hatchell (Head Coach) Lori Gear McBride Carrie McKee (Junior Center) Is in her 18th season as the head (Freshman Guard) Works for YoungLife in Colorado coach at UNC and enters the 2003-04 Is in her first season as an assistant Springs, Colo. season with a career record of 630- women’s basketball coach at Charlotte Smith-Taylor 255, 358-175 at Carolina. Charlotte following five years at (Junior Forward) Andrew Calder (Assistant Coach) Seton Hall. She is married to Pat Is in her second season as an assis- Is in his 18th season on the UNC McBride. tant coach at UNC and has played the Hatchell staff, currently as assistant head coach. Cooper Gwendolyn Gillingham Lawrence last five seasons with the WNBA’s Ann Hancock (Assistant Coach) (Junior Center) Charlotte Sting. She is married to Is in her fifth season as the head Lives in Winter Haven, Fla., where Johnny C. Taylor Jr. women’s basketball coach at UNC she is a stay-at-home mom to Lorelei Tonya Sampson (Senior Forward) Wilmington (4) and Weston (3). Owns a mortgage company and three Emily Johnson Murphy Tonya Jackson laundromats in Durham, N.C. (Assistant Coach) (Sophomore Forward) Jill Suddreth (Junior Guard) Works in agent services for Pinnacle Works as a preschool teacher in Athletic coordinator for the City of Calder Benefits Group, Inc., and lives in Crawley Chapel Hill and is pursuing a master’s Smith Durham Parks and Recreation Winston-Salem, N.C., with husband degree in school counseling at N.C. Maja Vukojicic Martin Chris and daughter Ella Jane, who is Central (Sophomore Forward) almost 3. Marion Jones Is a dentist and lives in Durham, Tonya Cooper Williams (Freshman Guard) N.C., with her husband, Chris (Sophomore Guard) Won five medals in track and field at Jan Boxill (Academic Advisor) Works as a child support officer for the 2002 Summer Games and remains A philosophy professor at UNC, still Orange County and lives in Durham, one of the world’s top female sprint- serves as the academic advisor and Hancock N.C., with her husband, two cats and Gear ers.