North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
University of North Carolina
NC State Eliminated by Top-ranked UNC, 90-69
3/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 4, 2006
GREENSBORO - For the third time in the last five years, North Carolina eliminated NC State from the semifinals of the ACC Women's Tournament, with a 90-68 decision Saturday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum.
It was the Wolfpack's sixth straight loss to the Tar Heels and 11th in the last 12 meetings.
NC State (19-11) now turns its attention to next Sunday's NCAA Tournament pairings announcement. The Women's NCAA Tournament begins on March 18 at eight sites around the country.
Senior Billie McDowell led the Wolfpack with 17 points in the game, while junior Ashley Key added 16 and junior Sasha Reaves had 11 points and a team-high five rebounds.
The Tar Heels, led by ACC Player of the Year Ivory Latta's 17 points, had five players in double figures.
The top-ranked and top-seeded Tar Heels jumped out to an early lead with an impressive display in the first half, as the fifth-seeded Wolfpack had difficulties on both ends of the floor.
"North Carolina put on a clinic in the first half," Wolfpack coach Kay Yow said. "I was disappointed in the way we played defensively. We played them much better in the first two games."
On the offensive end, the Wolfpack made only eight of its 36 field goal attempts, missed all but one of its nine 3-pointers and committed 10 turnovers. On the defensive end, the Wolfpack allowed the Tar Heels to make 19 of its 36 points, for a 52.8 shooting percentage. That included a six-for-10 shooting percentage from 3-point range.
The Wolfpack's starting guards had difficulty penetrating and scoring as they did in the tournament's first two games. Guards Marquetta Dickens, Key and McDowell combined to make just four of 18 from the field and one of seven shots from 3-point range. Dickens, who scored 35 points in the Wolfpack's first two tournament games, converted a three-point play for the Wolfpack's first points against the Tar Heels and did not score again in the game. Most of Key's scoring came at the free-throw line, where she made eight of her nine attempts. State's first-half shooting didn't quite match the season-worst 24.1 shooting percentage it had in the first half against Clemson in Thursday's first-round game, but it was close. And even a 25-23 rebounding advantage could help the Wolfpack keep the game close.
And unlike trailing the Tigers just 24-23 two days earlier, the Wolfpack trailed the Tar Heels 46-27 at the half, as UNC point guard Ivory Latta hit a 3-pointer as time expired to give the Tar Heels their largest lead of the game to that point.
The defending tournament-champion Tar Heels advance to the ACC title game for the 11th time in the last 13 years.
