Women's Basketball Drops Regular-Season Finale to N.C. State
Feb. 24, 2007
Coral Gables, Fla. – Four players scored in double-figures to lead the N.C. State women’s basketball team past the University of Miami, 77-53, to close the regular season for both teams on Saturday afternoon at the BankUnited Center.
A three-pointer by Miami senior Renee Taylor (Harlem, N.Y.) just under nine minutes into the game pushed her career total over 1,000 points in just two seasons at UM, as the ACC’s leading scorer became the 19th Hurricane to reach the 1,000-point milestone – and just the sixth to accomplish this in her first two seasons.
Saturday marked the third straight win for N.C. State (21-8, 10-4 ACC), as the Wolfpack improved to 8-1 since the return of head coach Kay Yow, while the Hurricanes (11-18, 2-12 ACC) dropped their fourth straight.
Playing in their final regular-season game, Miami’s two seniors – Taylor and Amy Audibert (Niagara Falls, Ontario) – hit back-to-back three-pointers to get the Hurricanes on the scoreboard, and another three from freshman Charmaine Clark (Hinesville, Ga.) gave Miami the early 13-12 edge. But N.C. State used a 12-0 run over six minutes to take the 15-point lead, 33-18, with 5:53 remaining in the half. The Hurricanes responded with six-straight points, including a pair of baskets from junior Carla Williams (Hanover, Jamaica), to chip away at the Wolfpack lead, and entered halftime trailing, 37-26.
Taylor knocked down a basket early in the second stanza to cut Miami’s deficit to single figures, but 10- straight N.C. State points extended the Wolfpack lead to 19, up 47-28, with 16:06 remaining in the contest. N.C. State led by as many as 26 points in the game, and became the third team to convert more than 50 percent of its field goals – 52.5 percent – versus Miami this season.
Ashley Key had a team-high 17 points and six assists for the Wolfpack, while Khadijah Whittington and Gillian Goring posted double-doubles. Whittington finished with 16 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, while the 6-7 Goring had 15 points and 10 boards.
Taylor led the Hurricanes’ effort with a game-high 20 points, four assists and a game-high three steals, while junior Maurita Reid (Queens, N.Y.) added 10 second-half points and a team-high five assists.
The University of Miami women’s basketball team returns to competition on Thursday, March 1, at the ACC Tournament held at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. ACC Tournament seedings will be announced by the conference office on Sunday evening, following the 4 p.m. Duke-North Carolina game.
