Tigers Edged By No. 8 Tar Heels, 70-66

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) – Coretta Brown scored 19 points and hit a free throw with 4.3 seconds left as No. 8 North Carolina beat Clemson 70-66 Sunday.

Candace Sutton added a season-high 18 points and Nikita Bell had 15 points and eight steals for the Tar Heels (23-2, 12-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their eighth straight league game and fourth in a row against the Tigers (12-11, 4-8).

Chrissy Floyd scored a season-high 27 points for Clemson, which has lost seven of nine. Julie Aderhold added 12.

Clemson led 54-51 on a layup by Lakeia Stokes with 14:39 to play, but Bell answered by outscoring Clemson 8-1 over the next 2:09. She capped the run with two free throws for a 59-55 lead with 11:37 left.

The Tar Heels held the Tigers without a field goal for the next 10˝ minutes.

Still, Clemson rallied late, scoring eight unanswered points to pull within three. The Tigers had three chances to tie it in the final 80 seconds, but couldn’t overtake the Tar Heels.

Leah Metcalf rebounded Floyd’s last miss and passed to Brown, who hit the final free throw with 4.3 seconds left.

Both teams shot 50 percent in the first half and went into halftime tied at 42.

The Tigers dominated the boards, outrebounding North Carolina 48-35 behind Tia Andrew’s 12 rebounds. The Tar Heels had been outrebounded only twice this season.