North Carolina State University Athletics
This Bad Break Could Become A Good Break
2/10/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Turn the calendar back to 1983. Derrick Whittenberg breaks his right foot in the game against Virginia and the Wolfpack's hopes for a successful basketball season took a tumble.
But Whittenberg's broken foot turned into a big break for a guy named Ernie Myers. He gained valuable game experience and when Whittenberg returned for the Pack's magical run to the NCAA title, Myers continued to play a major role on the court.
Seventeen years later, a broken foot threatens to wreck the season for NC State's nationally ranked Wolfpack Women. Or will history repeat itself and turn another reserve into a star?
Summer Erb, the 6-6 senior and the leading scorer, hit the Reynolds Coliseum floor after making a layup with 36 seconds left to play against North Carolina on February 2. X-rays revealed three broken metatarsals in Erb's left foot. She'll be on the shelf for six weeks.
NC State coach Kay Yow decided to employ a four out, one in alignment without Erb. Florida State was the first test for the new look Wolfpack Women.
Monica Bates, a junior from Manchester, Tennessee, used the occasion to snap out of a shooting slump. She hit 7 of 8 field goal attempts to lead the Wolfpack Women to a 72-62 victory, protecting their second place spot in the ACC standings and a number 11 AP poll ranking.
"We knew that with Summer out, our biggest challenge would be rebounding," said Bates after her 17 point performance. "We talked at halftime about getting more rebounds and I think everybody did a great job."
Yow was confident that Erb's absence could be overcome, but not easily. "Our offense has been built quite a bit around her and we're used to looking for her inside. In fact, we're just getting to be pretty good at finding her."
Erb had a 32 point performance against Texas and scored 19 first half points against Wake Forest. Her last basket against the Tar Heels capped a 25 point, 16 rebound night.
"Defensively she's always a factor, " said Yow, "with her intimidation and people change shots because she's there. Her long outlet passes get our up tempo game going. There're just a lot things Erb does on both ends of the court."
On her first day on crutches after breaking the foot, Erb talked about the injury. "That was the first time I wasn't able to jump back up after getting knocked down. I knew something was wrong."
Now the rehab work begins. "We're looking at getting in the pool a little bit and riding the bike," explained the Lakewood, Ohio native. "I'm going to try to lose some weight during this time and use everyday to my advantage."
During the Florida State game Erb was both a cheerleader and a coach. In fact, Bates said Erb was very helpful during halftime. "She was telling everybody what she could see from the bench and it's great to hear it from a player's perspective."
The most exciting thing that Erb saw from the bench in the Florida State victory was the play of sophomore Christen Greene. The 6-3 reserve had a career high 14 points, made a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and blocked three Seminoles' shots.
Dust off your Wolfpack memories from 1983. The breaks may be going NC State's way again.
