University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Maryland
Heels Fall In OT To No. 6 Maryland
February 9, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Ashleigh Newman and Marissa Coleman helped sixth-ranked Maryland put a shocking end to No. 1 North Carolina's hopes of an unbeaten season.
Newman hit a long desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime, and Coleman scored five straight points afterward to put the Terrapins ahead to stay in a 98-95 win Thursday night, ending North Carolina's 30-game home winning streak.
Crystal Langhorne scored 25 points to lead the Terrapins (22-2, 9-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who rallied from a 14-point deficit in the final 12 minutes of regulation to win at Carmichael Auditorium for the first time in a decade.
Camille Little scored 24 points to lead the Tar Heels (22-1, 9-1), who were the nation's last unbeaten team in Division I - men's or women's.
With North Carolina leading 83-80 in the final seconds of regulation, Shay Doron missed a straightaway 3-pointer that North Carolina's Erlana Larkins appeared to rebound. But Larkins fell forward along the baseline and the ball went bouncing back inbounds.
Newman raced to the ball several feet beyond the arc on the right side and hurled a shot that swished through the net as the horn sounded. North Carolina players watched in stunned silence while Larkins was down on the sideline with an apparent leg injury that kept her out in overtime.
Coleman put the Terps ahead to stay with a putback on the first play of overtime for an 85-83 lead. She then followed with a desperation 3-pointer that topped Newman's heave, spinning to her right while being closely defended by La'Tangela Atkinson and tossing the ball toward the backboard with the shot clock set to expire.
The ball banked in from the right side, giving Maryland an 88-83 lead that ultimately held up.
Still, the Tar Heels kept fighting, closing to within 96-95 on a banked-in 3-pointer from Ivory Latta with 27.1 seconds left. Then, after a pair of free throws by Kristi Toliver with 17.2 seconds left, the Tar Heels missed 3's in the final seconds to tie it - the last coming when Latta missed at the horn despite getting contact from a Maryland defender.
Larkins' injury was not the only scare for the Tar Heels in a physical contest. Backup point guard Alex Miller was carried off the court on a stretcher after suffering an apparent neck injury during a collision under the basket in the second half.
