No. 4 UConn Falls to No. 9 North Carolina, 71-65

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RALEIGH, N.C. (November 21, 2004) - The fourth-ranked University of Connecticut women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2004-05 season with a 71-65 defeat at the hands of No. 9 North Carolina Sunday afternoon in Raleigh, N.C. The game was part of the Jimmy V Classic hosted by N.C. State at the RBC Center. The Huskies are now 1-1 while the Tar Heels improve to 2-0. The loss is the earliest for UConn since Nov. 19, 1995 when they lost to Louisiana Tech, 83-81, in the season opener.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle as the two teams swapped the lead seven times and tied the score three times, but Connecticut took a 34-30 lead into halftime. Junior Ann Strother (Castle Rock, Colo.) led the way for the Huskies with 10 points, shooting 4-for-8 including two three-pointers. Both teams struggled with the ball as UConn tallied 15 turnovers while UNC had 14.

Towards the end of the first half, Ketia Swanier (Columbus, Ga.) suffered a minor concussion that caused her to miss the second half. In her 14 minutes of play, the freshman scored from beyond the arc for three points while dishing out two assists. Sophomore Nicole Wolff (Walpole, Mass.) filled in at point guard and finished with two steals and 11 points, shooting 4-for-5.

The Huskies came out of the half and built on their lead, moving it to 10 points, 46-36, with 14:49 remaining in the game. North Carolina fought back to tie the game and then take a 53-52 lead with a pair of free throws made by Nikita Bell 12:40 into the second.

With the game winding down, Barbara Turner (Cleveland, Ohio) missed two free throws at 16:52 that would have increased UConn's 60-57 lead. UNC's La'Tangela Atkinson closed the gap with a pair of made free throws, and the Tar Heels took the lead with 1:53 remaining when Ivory Latta stole the ball and made a three-pointer to push North Carolina up 62-60. The trey sparked a 12-5 UNC run, including a 9-for-10 performance from the line in the final minute, to complete the game and upset UConn 71-65.

Connecticut was led offensively by Strother, who finished with 17 points, six assists and two blocked shots. She also played a team-high 38 minutes. Turner added 14 points with six rebounds and five steals in 30 minutes. Five Tar Heels finished in double-digits with Latta collecting a team-high 16 points.

UConn turned the ball over 28 times with UNC capitalizing by scoring 30 points off of turnovers. The Huskies were 23-for-49 (46.9) in field goals, and 13-for-19 from the line. North Carolina shot 24-for-60 (40.0) and was 17-for-19 on free throws. The Tar Heels held a 33-32 edge in rebounds.

The Huskies will next play on Wednesday, Dec. 1 when they return to Gampel Pavilion on the Storrs campus to host South Florida at 7:30 p.m.