Jan. 9, 2000
Box Score
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Maryland stayed close with No. 3 North Carolina State
until the Wolfpack showed they had a tough defense to go with their balanced
offense.
Summer Erb had 19 points and nine rebounds and North Carolina State held
Maryland to one basket in the final 5:46 of a 71-52 victory Sunday.
"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."
Tynesha Lewis added six points in the final 3:25 to finish with 15 points
and five assists for the Wolfpack (14-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference).
N.C. State, off to its best start in school history, is one victory shy of
tying school record for the longest winning streak, tying the mark set during
the 1984-85 season.
Tiffany Brown led Maryland (9-5, 1-3) with 12 points 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.
The Terrapins narrowed the lead to 51-46 following Daniels' 3-pointer with
5:16 to play. But Maryland missed five of its last six tries from the floor and
went scoreless during the final 2:22.
"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."
N.C. State closed the game with a 20-6 run, hitting 11 of its 14 free
throws.
"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."
Ivy Gardner and Amy Simpson came off the bench to score 12 apiece for N.C.
State.
"How big was our bench? It was huge," Yow said. "I just wish we could
have shot a little better today. That was the only thing wrong. Just shoot the
ball better."
Erb hit four of her first seven shots from the floor to score 10 points and
help the Wolfpack to a 27-18 halftime lead.
Erb, last year's ACC player of the year, led N.C. State's domination on the
boards as the Wolfpack outrebounded Maryland 52-26.
