UConn latest victim as Wolfpack reaches Final Four

Posted: Mon March 23, 1998 at 9:51 PM ET

Kay Yow hugs Summer Erb after the Wolfpack toppled the top two seeds in the region to make it to Kansas City    (AP)

DAYTON, Ohio (CNN/SI) -- Connecticut tried to deny that its title hopes ended last money when Nykesha Sales ruptured an Achilles' tendon. Monday night, the Huskies could deny it no more.

"Tonight, all of the things I worry about came true," said Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma. "A lot of it had to do with NC State's post players, who thoroughly outplayed ours."

North Carolina State managed its second straight upset, knocking Connecticut out of the NCAA tournament 60-52 and advancing to the women's Final Four for the first time.

Without its star, the Huskies had relied on balance to win all seven games since losing Sales. They could have used a star Monday night.

"They started to make their run, and for some reason that shocked us and we lost our composure," guard Amy Duran said. "We just needed to be a lot more aggressive than we were in the end."

Chasity Melvin scored eight of her 18 points during the 14-0 run that brought the Wolfpack (25-6) back into the game.

The Huskies (34-3) took a 36-26 lead three minutes into the second half on a 3-pointer by Duran, and appeared to have the game under control.

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But then Melvin scored underneath, LySchale Jones hit a basket, Tynesha Lewis scored off a steal and Melvin hit three more baskets. Jones scored again to give the Wolfpack a 40-36 lead.

Connecticut tied the score twice after that run, but was clearly rattled. North Carolina State scored its last eight points on free throws, as the Huskies were forced to foul repeatedly.

Summer Erb and Jones each had 12, and Tynesha Lewis had 11 for North Carolina State.

It wasn't a happy birthday for Geno Auriemma, who had won all three previous tournament games on March 23    (AP)

Duran and Paige Sauer led Connecticut with 11 points each.

"Despite all our wins, this year has been an incredible struggle for me," Auriemma said. "The fact that we've even been able to get here is a miracle. It looked bad from the very first day of practice. In games like this, it shows up."

North Carolina State used its tenacious defense to stay close in the first half, holding Connecticut -- which averaged 84 points a game this season -- to a 28-23 halftime lead.

"At halftime we were down. We sort of glazed over," North Carolina State coach Kay Yow said. "The second half we came out and raised the level. Getting down in the second half didn't rattle us."

Erb was a major factor in neutralizing the Huskies' offense. She came off the bench five minutes into the game, and in less than three minutes had three points, four rebounds and had forced Sauer, Connecticut's best rebounder, to the bench for the rest of the half with her second foul.

"Mentally, we had to believe in ourselves," Yow said. "We had to raise the level of our defense and we had to get the ball inside to Chasity.

"In the last 10 minutes of the game, we played about as well defensively as we can play."

North Carolina State, making its ninth NCAA appearance, had never reached the final eight until knocking off No. 1-seeded Old Dominion 55-54 on Saturday. Connecticut was the No.2 seed.

Erb (3) scored 12 points and neutralized the Connecticut offense    (AP)

"We feel like we had to beat two No.1 seeds in this region," Yow said.

With Sales, Connecticut probably would have been a No.1 seed.

North Carolina State, the No.4 seed in the East, is the lowest-seed this year to go to the Final Four. Last year, Notre Dame, a sixth seed, went.

This year was the 10th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance for Connecticut, the fifth consecutive regional final and the second consecutive loss in the regional final; Tennessee knocked off the Huskies last year.

The loss also ended the Huskies' tradition of winning on Auriemma's birthday. Connecticut had previously won all three NCAA tournament games played on March 23.