North Carolina State University Athletics
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North Carolina
UNC Defense Does In Pack, 80-71
2/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2002
Raleigh, N.C.--Coretta Brown and Nikki Teasley poured in 23 points apiece as the 23rd-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels defeated the NC State Wolfpack 80-71 in Reynolds Coliseum Sunday afternoon. The win was only the third for North Carolina in its last 11 games against the Wolfpack and the first in Raleigh since 1994.
The Tar Heels (19-6 overall, 8-4 ACC), who lead the Atlantic Coast Conference in rebounding, once again won the battle of the boards with a 41-33 advantage over the Wolfpack on the glass. North Carolina's strongest defensive effort focused on containing NC State's leading scorer, redshirt sophomore Kaayla Chones, who finished with just four points and four rebounds.
UNC stunned the Wolfpack (11-12, 5-7 ACC) with a 9-0 run to open the game before Nanna Rivers dented the scoreboard for the Wolfpack 5:05 into the half. The first-half lead grew to as many as 12 at the 8:30 mark on two free throws by UNC's Kenya McBee. NC State cut the lead to four at 32-28 before Teasley answered with a a pair of free throws and a deep three to give North Carolina a 37-28 lead at the half.
After Chones went to the Wolfpack bench with her fourth foul with 12:30 left in the game, the Wolfpack rallied behind freshman Rachel Stockdale who scored 13 of her career-high 19 points to pull the Wolfpack within two at 55-53 with 8:24 left to play.
Teasley then countered with back-to-back three-pointers to push the lead back out of reach as the Tar Heels never looked back. The Wolfpack tried valianltly to get back into the contest but was limited to just one shot by the North Carolina defense and fell victim to 8 Tar Heel free throws in the final minute to seal the victory. Teasley led the Tar Heels in the second stanza with 15 points.
"This is my senior year and I'd never won in here," said Teasley. "We didn't want to give them a chance to find their rhythm."
"Every time NC State would make a run at us, Nikki would settle the team down and make big shots," said North Carolina head coach Sylvia Hatchell. "She has been doing a great job with leadership for us and is playing with a lot of confidence right now.
"We were a much better team now than we were when we played them in Chapel Hill," Hatchell said, referencing NC State's 66-63 victory over the then-17th-ranked Tar Heels on Jan. 10th in the Dean E. Smith Center.
"It was a tough loss for us," said Wolfpack head coach Kay Yow. "I thought we gave a great effort, but in my mind the free throws are really what we needed to convert on to have a chance to win today." NC State was just 17-31 from the line on the afternoon, while North Carolina sunk 17 of their 22 free throw attempts.
Amy Simpson and Carisse Moody chipped in 16 and 11, respectively for the Wolfpack.
The win was North Carolina's fith in a row, while NC State dropped its third consecutive game.
