North Carolina 81, N.C. State 69

RALEIGH - The North Carolina women's basketball team rallied to defeat rival N.C. State 81-69 at Reynolds Coliseum on Monday night.

North Carolina junior guard Italee Lucas scored a career-high 33 points, coming alive in the second half where she accounted for 28 points. During one stretch in the second, she scored 16 of the Heels' 20 points.

The No. 14-ranked Tar Heels (16-3, 4-1 ACC) trailed by nine points with 11 minutes remaining as State took a 51-42 lead on 3-pointer by sophomore guard Emili Tasler.

But the Heels erased that lead on the strength of Lucas, who ignited a sleepy offense. The Heels surged from behind and took their own nine-point lead late in the second half.  

N.C. State junior forward Brittany Strachan scored a team-high 16 points, while sophomore forward Bonae Holston added 12 points.

State (12-8, 2-2) held a 29-28 half-time lead over UNC.

 In a back-and-forth first half, both teams pushed the pace, but consistent shooting was hard to come by with each team shooting 31 percent from the field. 

Strachan, who made 3 of 5 3-point attempts in the first half, surfaced as the lone bright spot for the Pack. She scored 11 points in the first half, including a span earlier in the half through where she nailed two 3-pointers. Later she would stick another from the arc to give her team a 46-38 lead midway though the half.

The Tar Heels, though, kept close in the first with a physical style of play that seemed to wear on State. The Heels outrebounded the Pack 29-20 in the first half and aggressively pursued loose balls.

UNC's Laura Broomfield led her team with 8 points and six boards.  

NOTE - Before the the start of the game, there was a moment of silence at Reynolds Coliseum to honor the memory of former N.C. State coach Kay Yow, who died last year after a long battle with breast cancer.