RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Maryland stayed close with No. 3 North Carolina State until the Wolfpack showed they had a tough defense to go with their balanced offense.

	Tynesha Lewis, right, steals the ball during first-half action Sunday.

Summer Erb had 19 points and nine rebounds and North Carolina State held Maryland to one basket in the final 5:46 of a 71-52 victory Sunday.

"Our bread and butter was defense," N.C. State coach Kay Yow said. "Every time they made a run, we stepped up on defense and really got the boards."

Tynesha Lewis added six points in the final 3:25 to finish with 15 points and five assists for the Wolfpack (14-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference).

N.C. State, off to its best start in school history, is one victory shy of tying the school record for the longest winning streak, a mark set during the 1984-85 season.

Tiffany Brown led Maryland (9-5, 1-3) with 12 points on four 3-pointers to help the Terrapins stay close until the final minutes. Terri Daniels added 10 points, including seven of the Terrapins' last 11 points.

The Terrapins narrowed the lead to 51-46 following Daniels' 3-pointer with 5:16 to play. But Maryland missed five of its last six tries from the floor and went scoreless during the final 2:22.

"I thought all along the game would be close, and, if we could stay close down to the wire, we'd have a chance to pull it out," Maryland coach Chris Weller said. "The numbers were going the way we would have liked. We were doing fine. It was a five-point game. Then -- kah-blooey."

N.C. State closed the game with a 20-6 run, hitting 11 of its 14 free throws.

"N.C. State was very poised down the stretch and did the things its had to do to pull out the game," Weller said. "We did not. We turned the ball over, and we turned it over in the some bad spots."

Ivy Gardner and Amy Simpson came off the bench to score 12 apiece for N.C. State.

"How big was our bench? It was huge," Yow said. "I just wish we could have shot a little better today. That was the only thing wrong. Just shoot the ball better."

Erb hit four of her first seven shots from the floor to score 10 points and help the Wolfpack to a 27-18 halftime lead.

Erb, last year's ACC player of the year, led N.C. State's domination on the boards as the Wolfpack outrebounded Maryland 52-26.