North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack and Tar Heels Battle for Second Place
2/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. -
No. 21/24 NC State women's basketball travels to No. 8/5 North Carolina for one of the Atlantic Coast Conference's most historic meetings. The Wolfpack, 19-5 and 8-3 in ACC play, will be hosted by the 21-3 and 9-2 Tar Heels in the Smith Center at 4 p.m. in a nationally showcased game on ESPN2. The 78th meeting between the Tobacco Road rivals will pit the ranked teams together in a showdown for second place in the ACC standings. The Wolfpack leads the all-time series, 48-29 and is 15-16 in Chapel Hill. However, NC State is 2-1 in the last three meetings in Chapel Hill, including the 62-54 upset in Carmichael last season. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 with Beth Mowins and Nancy Lieberman, as well as the Wolfpack Capitol Sports Radio Network with Patrick Kinas.
The NC State Wolfpack has won four straight games in recent action and seven of its last eight, which includes four-consecutive on the road. The Wolfpack, along with Duke are the only teams within the ACC to have just one road loss. NC State is fresh off a 28-point victory over No. 25 Florida State Thursday evening in Reynolds Coliseum. The win was the biggest this season over an ACC opponent and largest over Florida State in 13 previous home games. NC State has seen three or more players reach double figures in 16 of 24 games. Additionally, the Pack has finished six games with four or more players in double figures and two games with five players in double digits, recently against Georgia Tech and before against Virginia Tech. The Wolfpack leads the ACC in turnover margin, both overall (+6.9) and in ACC games (+5.2), leads in 3-point FG percentage (37.8) for ACC games and is second in steals (11.20 overall spg and 9.60 ACC spg). Three players are averaging double figures in conference play, led by junior Billie McDowell's 15.6 ppg, followed by junior Tiffany Stansbury with 10.7 and freshman Khadijah Whittington with 10.6 ppg. McDowell has five games when she has posted 20 or more points - most recently at Miami, when she led with 26 pts.
North Carolina is riding a seven-game overall winning streak and is 13-0 in Chapel Hill, five of them ACC wins, including the 56-51 upset of then No. 1 Duke on Jan. 24. The Heels are currently in second place in the ACC standings. The squad is outscoring its conference foes by an average of +13.8 ppg. The Tar Heels are shooting 71.4 percent from the foul line 45.0 percent from the floor. UNC averages 19.5 turnovers a game, but forces just under 24 in ACC games, half coming off of an average of 14.1 steals per game and some from its average of 3.5 blocks per game. UNC is led by sophomore guard Ivory Latta's 15.6 ppg and 4.9 apg. Freshman Erlana Larkins leads the team in blocks with 28 total and is second in scoring with an average of 15.5 ppg. Junior La'Tangela Atkinson leads the squad in rebounding with 7.5 rpg, while sophomore Camille Little rounds out the double figure scoring with 11.8 ppg.
The Tar Heels are led by 19th year head coach Sylvia Hatchell. Hatchell, once Coach Yow's assistant with the 1988 gold medal Olympic team, is 402-185 (.684) at UNC. After 30 years as a head coach, Hatchell's combined record from Francis Marion and UNC is 674-265 (.718). Yow owns a record of 672-305 (.688) in 34 years and is 615-286 (.683) in her 30 seasons at NC State. Yow leads 25-19, and is 1-1 vs. Francis Marion when Hatchell was there.
Series Notes: NC State and UNC will meet for the 78th time in history, the most of any ACC matchup in the league's WBB history. The Wolfpack leads the overall series 48-29 and is 15-16 in Chapel Hill. However NC State has won 2 of the last three games on the road at UNC. That includes the upset last season in Carmichael (W, 62-54) and the last time the two teams met in the Smith Center (W, 66-63) ... The last win against North Carolina was Feb. 8, 2004, 62-54 in Carmichael on the UNC campus ... The last loss overall was Jan. 14, 2005, 77-75 in Raleigh.
