North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Women Down Terrapins, 71-52
1/9/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- (Jan. 9) Maryland stayed close with No. 3 North Carolina State until the Wolfpack showed it had a tough defense to go with its balanced offense.
The Wolfpack outscored the Terrapins 20-6 to close the game, holding Maryland to one basket in the final 5:46 to earn a 71-52 victory Sunday.
N.C. State (14-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), off to its best start in school history, is one victory shy of tying the school record for its longest winning streak, set during the 1984-85 season.
"Our bread and butter was defense," N.C. State coach Kay Yow said. "Every time they made a run, we stepped up on defense and really got the boards."
Down 27-18 at halftime, Maryland hit five of its first eight 3-point tries of the second half and whittled the deficit to 51-46 with 5:16 to play. But Maryland went scoreless during the final 2:22 and the Wolfpack hit 11 of its last 14 free throws to secure the win.
"I thought all along the game would be close, and, if we could stay close down to the wire, we'd have a chance to pull it out," Maryland coach Chris Weller said. "The numbers were going the way we would have liked. We were doing fine. It was a five-point game. Then -- kah-blooey."
Summer Erb had game highs of 19 points and nine rebounds to help N.C. State dominate the paint and grab a 52-26 edge on the boards. Tynesha Lewis scored six points in the final 3:25 to finish with 15 points and five assists. Ivy Gardner and Amy Simpson came off the bench to add 12 apiece for N.C. State.
"How big was our bench? It was huge," said Yow. "I just wish we could have shot a little better today. That was the only thing wrong. Just shoot the ball better."
Maryland held N.C. State to 22-for-56 shooting from the field and forced 20 turnovers. But the Terrapins fared poorly against N.C. State's pressure, hitting just 33 percent from the floor.
Tiffany Brown led Maryland (9-5, 1-3) with 12 points, all in the second half, on four 3-pointers to help the Terrapins stay close until the final minutes. Terri Daniels added 10 points, including seven of the Terrapins' last 11 points.
"N.C. State was very poised down the stretch and did the things its had to do to pull out the game," Weller said. "We did not. We turned the ball over, and we turned it over in the some bad spots."
Erb, last year's ACC player of the year, sparked N.C. State's closing run with consecutive assists to Lewis and then Talisha Scates for driving layups down the lane. Lewis followed with a 3-pointer that put N.C. State up 58-48 with 3:25 to play and Maryland never threatened again.
Erb hit four of her first seven shots from the floor to score 10 points and help the Wolfpack to its 27-18 halftime lea
