North Carolina
Clemson
No. 11 North Carolina Tops Clemson In ACC Tournament, 80-71
March 8, 2003 | Women's Basketball
March 8, 2003
By JENNA FRYER
AP Sports Writer
GREENSBORO, N.C. - One little pep talk from her coach was enough to get Candace Sutton fired up for the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Reminded how she made the all-tournament team last season, Sutton returned Saturday with one of the best games of her career with a season-high 20 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 11 North Carolina to an 80-71 victory over Clemson in the ACC quarterfinals.
"I told Candace what she needed to come in here and do, which was make her presence known and make a statement," North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "So she came in here really focused."
Sutton is determined to get the second-seeded Tar Heels (26-4) back in the title game for the second straight season. The Tar Heels lost to top-seeded Duke 87-80 in last year's final. Both North Carolina and the Blue Devils advanced to Sunday's semifinals.
"I came in here with a couple of goals in mind," Sutton said. "But mostly, I wanted to win, and I wanted the team to win and I did whatever I had to do for us to get it."
Coretta Brown also scored 20 points for North Carolina and Nikita Bell had a career-high 12 rebounds.
Chrissy Floyd led seventh-seeded Clemson (14-15) with 21 points. But it was a struggle for her for the second straight game. Floyd shot 10-of-28 from the field - missing all seven of her 3-point attempts - a day after she scored eight points on 3-of-16 shooting in a win over Maryland.
"I knew I had to step up and hit the shots I usually hit," Floyd said. "I had to let go of last night's game and just come here ready to play. And I really felt good, like I could make some shots."
Maggie Slosser added 10 points and nine rebounds for Clemson, but she struggled at the free-throw line when the Tigers needed her most. Slosser made two of seven free throws, missing three of them while Clemson was within striking distance of North Carolina.
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I told Candace what she needed to come in here and do, which was make her presence known and make a statement. So she came in here really focused.
North Carolina Coach Sylvia Hatchell
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Sutton, a 6-foot-6 junior center, picked up the slack early while leading scorer Brown was not hitting her shots. She helped the Tar Heels dominate under the basket and utilize their inside advantage by posting up for layups and knocking away loose balls.
"The game plan was definitely to get Candace the ball inside because I didn't think they had anyone to match up with her size-wise," Brown said.
Clemson tried, using 6-foot-4 freshman Amanda White on Sutton, to no avail.
"Sutton is a veteran player and we were guarding her most of the night with a freshman," Clemson coach Jim Davis said. "And she got the best of Amanda, she really did."
y the time Brown got going, her 3-pointer with 6:52 to play gave the Tar Heels a 64-55 lead.
ut Clemson was able to chip away at the lead with a pair of jumpers by Floyd, a layup and a free throw by Slosser and two free throws by Lakeia Stokes to cut it to 64-60.
North Carolina responded with Bell's 3-pointer, which swished through the net as she jumped into the air to celebrate the 67-60 lead.
Slosser and Floyd cut the Tar Heels' lead to 67-64 on consecutive baskets. But North Carolina came back with Bell's free throw, a layup by Sutton and an aggressive basket by La'Tangela Atkinson, in which she ran down the offensive rebound, dribbled around here defender toward the basket, and hooked in a layup for a 72-64 lead with 1:51 to play.
