Jan. 13, 2008

No. 3 Tar Heels Take Down Wolfpack, 79-70

After learning she had a broken bone in her left hand, Erlana Larkins knew she could sit out a few weeks and hope to recover in time to help North Carolina stay in the Atlantic Coast Conference title chase.

Instead, she opted to play through the pain, a decision that is keeping her third-ranked Tar Heels among the nation's elite.

Larkins had 22 points and eight rebounds to help North Carolina beat North Carolina State 79-70 on Sunday, giving the Tar Heels' their 14th win in 16 meetings.

LaToya Pringle added 16 points and a pair of key second-half baskets for the Tar Heels (16-1, 3-0 ACC), who led almost the entire way but couldn't put away the Wolfpack (12-5, 0-2) until the final seconds.

Larkins was one of the biggest reasons why. Playing with padding and tape protecting her left hand, the 6-foot-1 senior went 9-for-19 from the field in 31 minutes while banging around inside against Khadijah Whittington, the ACC's leading scorer and rebounder.

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Montgomery's Three-Pointer Lifts Jackets over Miami, 68-65

• Webcast on ACC Select

An Alex Montgomery three-point field goal with one second left led the Georgia Tech women's basketball team (15-2, 2-1 ACC) to a 68-65 come-from-behind win over Miami (8-10, 1-2) on Sunday afternoon.

The Yellow Jackets took possession of the ball with nine seconds remaining on an Albrey Grimsley turnover. Jill Ingram drove down-court and found Montgomery in the corner and the freshman didn't let the team down, knocking down the game-winning three. Montgomery finished with 11 points and three blocks.

Down by as many as 11 with 6:14 remaining, the Tech seniors stepped up down the stretch. Chioma Nnamaka knocked down two big three-point field goals and Janie Mitchell hit a pair of free throws to bring the Jackets back.

Nnamaka led the Jackets with 15 points and five rebounds. Jacqua Williams added nine rebounds and six steals in the victory.

Miami senior Maurita Reid finished with a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds. LaToya Cunningham scored 15 points off the bench.

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Virginia Handles Virginia Tech, 70-57, For Seventh-Straight Win

• Webcast on ACC Select

Monica Wright had a double-double and Aisha Mohammed scored a team-high 18 points to lead the Virginia women's basketball team to a 70-57 victory over in-state and ACC rival Virginia Tech Sunday at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers (13-4, 2-0 ACC) fought back from a three-point halftime deficit and used a second-half surge to upend the Hokies and win their seventh-straight game.

Wright finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double this season and fifth of her career. The sophomore turned it on in the second stanza, netting 13 points and igniting the season-high crowd of 7,001 at the arena.

Mohammed, meanwhile, hauled down seven rebounds to go with 18 points. Lyndra Littles, back in the lineup after missing three games with an injury, also scored in double-figures with 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

The Hokies held a slim lead at halftime, 24-21, but Virginia came out strong in the second half. After the teams battled to a 28-28 tie at the 17:07 mark, Virginia went on a 6-0 run capped by a Littles jumper and never looked back. The Cavaliers largest lead was 17 points en route to the eventual 70-57 victory.

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Boston College Escapes With A 57-55 Victory over Yale

• Webcast on ACC Select

Freshman Stefanie Murphy scored 19 of her team leading 23 points in the second half as Boston College escaped with a 57-55 victory over Yale at Conte Forum Sunday afternoon. The Eagles improved to 14-4 overall and are 2-1 in the ACC, while Yale is now 2-10.

Boston College led at the half 28-25 behind eight points from sophomore Ayla Brown (10 rebounds, three steals).

Yale opened the half with a 16-3 run as the Bulldogs pulled ahead, 41-31. Murphy, who was saddled with fouls all day, sparked the comeback at 12:49 in the game as she hit a lay-up under the hoop off a nice feed from Brown.

The Yale lead was cut to six points on another lay-up by Murphy at 11:51. Yale came back with a deep three-pointer from Jamie Van Horne. Murphy then made three straight shots to cut the Yale lead to three points with 9:14 to play. Sophomore Mickel Picco (six points) followed with a lay-up and the lead was one point with 8:15 to play.