NORFOLK, VA. - North Carolina scores more points than any NCAA Division I women's basketball team, excelling in that area with a breakneck, squeaky-sneaker transition style few teams can match layup for layup.

Yet as the top-seeded Tar Heels face eighth-seeded Georgia in the second round of the NCAA Tournament tonight, their concentration will be on shutting down a team with more height, similar girth and enough offensive know-how to become a threat.

Defense is a seldom-talked about element of UNC's program this season, considering its balance with five players averaging 10 points or more. But it's a quiet strength the team has developed, one it must rely on to survive the tough New Orleans Regional and reach a third consecutive Final Four.

Coach Sylvia Hatchell calls the Heels' defense "organized chaos," saying the team blends an unorthodox mix of man-to-man, full-court and half-court trapping. She said the Heels gamble, and it's often not pretty.

However unorthodox, it has held teams to 63.9 points per game this season and served as a necessary complement to UNC's transition offense.

"A lot of times the way we play defense, heck, it goes along with our style, our tempo -- the transition part of the game we like," Hatchell said. "We try to keep people from getting a comfort level."

UNC is playing in the regional considered by many analysts to be the toughest for a No. 1 seed.

Georgia, which averages 69.2 points, will step onto the floor at the Ted Constant Convocation Center led by 6-foot-3 senior forward Tasha Humphrey (16.6 points and 9.1 rebounds) and 6-5 sophomore Angel Robinson (9.9 points and 8.4 rebounds).

Georgia coach Andy Landers isn't surprised by UNC's defensive prowess.

"They play defense with as much energy as offense," he said. "I think they understand the better defense they play, the better offense they ... get."

Last season, UNC held 13 opponents to less than 50 points, a school record. This season, they have done that only four times.

With three freshmen and others assuming new roles, Hatchell said the team was slow to grasp defensive concepts and responsibilities.

While the Heels rely on mostly man-to-man defense, they rotate on ball screens and often trap out of a half-court set, meeting point guards beyond the top of the key as they cross half-court. Their defense rotates with passes during these traps, and post players such as Erlana Larkins and 6-3 forward LaToya Pringle end up defending on the perimeter, arms flailing.

"When they get out there on them, the guards are like a deer with headlights in their eyes," Hatchell said.

Fox Sports Network analyst Charlene Curtis, a former Wake Forest women's coach, said no other team has the combination of athleticism, arm length and player depth the Heels possess.

"They are going to trap you and disrupt you," Curtis said. "That's a whole lot of length coming at you. ... It's hard to see. The trap takes away your looks."

Curtis said UNC appears more disciplined this season, reacting less to ball fakes and gambling on steal attempts only when prudent.

Freshman Cetera DeGraffenreid, who replaced injured senior Alex Miller four games into the season, learned early she couldn't recklessly reach for steals. She still leads the team with 75 steals, and the Heels are ranked fourth in the nation with 13.1 per game.

"I could reach because Alex was there to back me up," DeGraffenreid said. "Now they're like, 'Don't reach. Just move your feet and stay in front of them.' "

UNC junior Heather Claytor added: "We have to do our part, and if they happen to get past us, they have to get past [Pringle]. That's a hard thing to do with her inside."

On Sunday, Pringle blocked five shots and became the school's all-time leader with 331. Led by her 90 swats this season, UNC leads the nation with 7.1 per game.

Even so, Pringle said she's resigned to playing better interior defense.

"I'm not going to let my girl just get it and then try to block it," she said. "Coach Hatchell knows when I'm doing that, I'm just trying to block shots."