University of North Carolina Athletics
On This Day in Carolina History
June 21, 1999 | General
North Carolina's women's basketball team completed its first regular-season sweep of N.C. State in eight years with an 81-54 rout at Carmichael Auditorium.
It was the largest margin of victory by the Tar Heels over State since 1975 and equalled the second-biggest point spread in school history against the Wolfpack.
Carolina entered the regionally-televised game with a 20-2 record and was ranked fifth nationally. State was 11-10, but generally seemed to be a major stumbling block for the Tar Heels.
That wasn't to be the case in this game. Carolina jumped to a 9-2 lead. Although the Wolfpack rallied to within 9-8, the Tar Heels never gave up the lead the entire game.
Sparked by Tonya Sampson and Marion Jones, Carolina raced to a 41-28 halftime advantage. Sampson hit five of eight shots from the floor and scored 15 points in the first 20 minutes. Jones made three of five shots and had 10 points at the break.
The lead was still 13, 48-35, with 15:45 in the game. That's when the Tar Heels exploded. Jones hit a free throw, Stephanie Lawrence drilled a three-pointer and Samposon fed Jones for a layup on a fast break as the margin greew to 19.
An eight-foot jumper by State's Jennifer Howard stopped the onslaught momentarily. But, Carolina then scored 15 consecutive points to push a 17-point lead to 32 at 69-37.
Charlotte Smith started it by getting fouled as she scored inside and adding the free throw. Three straight steals by Sampson, Jill Suddreth and Jones led to each getting a breakaway layup. Smith knifed inside for a basket, Sylvia Crawley scored from the low post and Lori Gear added a baseline jumper to complete the amazing run.
Sampson finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals, while Jones had 15 pints, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. All 12 Tar Heels who played got in the scoring column.
