North Carolina State University Athletics
Melvin Has Double-Double In Rocker's Win
7/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
July 25, 2002
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Merlakia Jones scored 23 points, and former NC State star Chasity Melvin had 15 points and 10 rebounds to help Cleveland end a three-game WNBA losing streak by beating Charlotte 83-73 Thursday.
Ann Wauters added 18 points for the Rockers (9-15), who lost to the Sting 73-66 in overtime Wednesday.
"That was a tough loss, and we had a lot of motivation," Cleveland coach Dan Hughes said. "Today we dictated the pace and played our game. Rebounding was the big key."
The Rockers outrebounded the Sting 36-20 Thursday in a game that featured 49 fouls and 61 free throws.
Another former Wolfpack standout, Andrea Stinson, scored 14 points and Tammy Sutton-Brown added 12 for Charlotte (14-10), which lost for only the third time in 13 home games.
"You cannot win games when you give teams two and three chances," Sting coach Anne Donovan said. "We're getting ready to build and go into the postseason - we hope. But we have to play much more consistently than we're playing now."
The Rockers scored five second-chance points in an 8-0 run to take a 46-36 lead with 13:09 left. Cleveland led by 11 when Charlotte scored nine unanswered points, capped by Tonya Edwards' 3-pointer, to cut the Rockers' lead to 52-50 with 8:40 left.
But that was as close as the Sting would get. Melvin's layup with 3:35 to go put the Rockers up 68-57.
"You go on the court every day for practice and you work on boxing out," Stinson said. "We just didn't focus on it and get it done."
The Sting took a 14-8 lead thanks to Cleveland's 2-of-12 shooting to start the game.
But the Rockers made 10 of their next 11 shots. Wauters scored 10 points in the first half, and Cleveland led 31-28 at the break.
"We need to keep the intensity we have been playing with the past couple of games," said Jones, who was 7-of-12 from the field and 8-of-9 from the foul line.
"If we do that, I think we'll be pleased at the end of the season."
