North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Indiana
Greathouse Leads Wolfpack Past Hoosiers, 50-44
11/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov 23, 2001
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - North Carolina State didn't play its best basketball Friday night.
But the 10th-ranked Wolfpack played well enough and got just lucky enough to rally in the final three minutes of the game and escape with a 50-44 victory in Indiana's home opener.
"I'm just hoping we're learning some things as we go along," Wolfpack coach Kay Yow said. "We couldn't stay within our offensive system tonight."
The Wolfpack's troubles led to some unusual situations.
Kelly Greathouse came off the bench to lead North Carolina State (4-0) with 12 points, and the inside tandem of Carisse Moody and Kaayla Chones was held scoreless and without a rebound for the first 20 minutes.
Moody, who had been averaging 17.7 points per game, finished with just nine points - seven of which came during the Wolfpack's decisive stretch run.
Yow cited two reasons for her team's struggles - playing without both of its starting guards and a tenacious Indiana defense that limited the Wolfpack to a 34.0 percent shooting percentage.
"They did a great job," Yow said. "I know Carisse felt a lot of pressure all night and their defense certainly was a factor."
North Carolina State wasn't the only team feeling the pressure.
The Hoosiers (1-2) managed to shoot just 25.4 percent from the floor in losing their second game to a Top-10 team in a week. Indiana lost to Stanford one week earlier.
Still, Indiana led 24-19 at halftime and after allowing North Carolina State to score the first 12 points of the second half, rallied.
"This is a hard one to lose," Hoosiers coach Kathi Bennett said. "I think that's one of the best defensive teams we've gone against. I thought they were very good."
While the loss was hard to accept for Bennett, the Hoosiers were dealt an even bigger blow 5:29 into the game when starting point guard Kristen Bodine went down with a right knee injury.
She didn't return and afterward Bennett said it was likely a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury.
"We're going to have to come up with something," Bennett said. "I thought the team handled it pretty well."
The Hoosiers, who led 12-5 before Bodine's injury, regained their composure and played well enough to retain the lead throughout the first half.
That forced the Wolfpack, a NCAA round of 16 team from a year ago, to make adjustments.
Yow said she used a more simplified offense in the second half, and the Wolfpack responded with an opening 12-0 run, which made it 31-24 with 16:25 to go.
Indiana countered with 11 straight points to retake the lead at 35-31 and then used a 7-1 run to make it 44-41 with 2:45 left.
But the Wolfpack defense shut down Indiana the rest of the way, and when Adeola Olanrewaju banged in a 15-foot bank shot, North Carolina State led 46-44. Nanna Rivers sealed the victory with four straight free throws.
"She called bank, didn't you hear her?" Yow joked. "It was nice to have a little luck, that's what this game is all about sometimes."
