CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Telisha Quarles didn't even know about it when her hometown declared "Telisha Quarles Day" last year and came to see her play.

It's a good thing she got another chance to make them proud.

Quarles scored 14 of her 17 points in the first half Sunday when almost no one else could make a shot and Virginia (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today; No. 21 AP) again played its best against one of the best, beating No. 7 North Carolina State for the second time this season, 60-51.

"This year it was really big," Quarles said of the day honoring her in Louisa, about 30 miles east of Charlottesville. "I think half of U. Hall was Louisa County people. It had to be. There was a lot of people here tonight."

But in the first half, Quarles was the only one that could make a shot. She made four of them -- all 3-pointers -- and two free throws as the Cavaliers opened a 32-25 lead. The rest of Virginia was 6-for-21 from the field.

"They noticed that I had the hot hand and they just kept feeding me the ball," the sophomore shooting guard said. "I think the 3s really got us going."

Cavaliers coach Debbie Ryan said Quarles' big half was huge.

"There aren't that many players in the conference that can guard that kid," Ryan said. "She doesn't know it, but there really aren't many people that can guard her. I've said this to her, and she doesn't believe me."

Virginia (21-6, 12-2 ACC) has won all four of its games against teams ranked in the top 10 at game time. The Cavaliers' 13th straight home victory also gave them a 1½-game lead over the Wolfpack and Duke (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today; No. 14 AP) in the conference.

North Carolina State (20-6, 11-4) fell to 3-2 since Feb. 3, when Naismith Award candidate Summer Erb was sidelined with three fractures in her left foot.

The Wolfpack shot just 26.4 percent as second-leading scorer Kaayla Chones missed 7 of 9 shots, and Tynesha Lewis and Monica Bates each missed 10 of 12.

"I don't know the last time the team shot that," said coach Kay Yow, the Wolfpack coach for the last 25 years. "I don't know that we ever have."

North Carolina State outrebounded Virginia 56-35, including 24-5 on the offensive end, but converted the second chances to only 21 points.

"We didn't really have an offensive flow," Yow said. "Maybe they're trying to hard. Perhaps they just wanted to do so well so badly that they tried too hard."

Renee Robinson and Schuye LaRue added 10 points each for Virginia, which shot just 32.7 percent. LaRue added 11 rebounds, six blocks and one of the Cavaliers' seven 3-pointers. The Wolfpack, by comparison, was 1-for-20 from behind the arc.

The one, and 14 of North Carolina State's 26 second-half points, came from reserve forward Amy Simpson, who led the Wolfpack with 18 points and helped six reserves outscore the starting five 27-24.

North Carolina State missed 11 straight shots and had four turnovers between its first basket 55 seconds in and its second more than seven minutes later, yet trailed just 8-6 when Bates hit that shot with 11:37 left.

Virginia got its first bucket on a drive by LaRue 31 seconds in, then missed six shots in a row until Quarles' first three with 14:08 left.