Not Enough Quarles Dooms UVa.

Quarles, the Cavaliers' lone senior starter and leading scorer, was given a breather with 5:15 left in the first half and the Tar Heels clinging to a 29-27 lead.

She returned two minutes later to a game only vaguely resembling the one she left. Without Quarles, who scored four of the last eight UVa. points before she exited, UNC regained its momentum.

The Tar Heels scored five straight points after UVa. tied the game at 29. UNC would go on to score six more when she returned to end the half on an 11-0 run

"I just felt like it was a good time to give her a blow and help her to rest a little bit, but it was just too long," said Virginia coach Debbie Ryan.

Quarles' importance was evident in the second half, when she nearly brought her team back into the game by herself.

LaTonya Blue tallied the first second-half basket for UVa., but for the next 10 points, the Cavalier offense was 100 percent Quarles.

Quarles started with a step-back three-pointer off a screen by teammate Lynette O'Reggio. She soon would add another trifecta, scoring from the right side.

Quarles went on to hit the next two baskets for the Cavaliers, one on a backdoor layup, the other on a fadeaway. Quarles attributed the outburst not to the rest she got at halftime but rather to changes in offensive strategy made during the break.

"Coach decided to let Anna Prillaman run the (point) a little bit to see if I could get my shot going," Quarles said.

Before all was said and done, Quarles had outscored UNC 10-6 to bring UVa. within five at 46-41, and the Tar Heels were the ones needing to adjust.

"We were putting different people on her, and finally we started trying to face guard her and limit her touches because she's pretty tough when she gets it," said UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell.

The new strategy worked. Following her 10-point outburst, UNC altered Quarles' shot selection, holding her to just 2-of-8 shooting the rest of the way and scoreless for the last eight minutes.

The 5-foot-8 Quarles cited the rotation of taller defenders like Courtney Chambers (5-10) and Nikita Bell (6-0) for the downturn in her shooting.

Coretta Brown, who guarded Quarles for the majority of the second half, said that the best way to stop Quarles was simply to deny her the ball.

Still, Quarles, who finished the game with 23 points, would not be completely denied.

On one play, Quarles caught a pass from Prillaman on the baseline and drove left-handed to the basket. She switched to her right hand then hesitated, freezing UNC guard Leah Metcalf.

Quarles then crossed back to her left-hand and blew by Metcalf, who reached out and fouled Quarles. The foul proved futile, as Quarles hit a two-handed underhand layup, sending her to the line for a 3-point play.

With plays like that, one could only wonder how the game would have changed had Quarles not taken a seat in the first half.

"She's really important to the team, but I can't play her for 40 minutes every time," Ryan said.

If only she could have.

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.Qualrles