North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Duke
Wolfpack Falls To No. 2 Duke, 75-56
1/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2004
Box Score | Quotes | Notes
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - Duke trailed early against North Carolina State on Friday night, so the Blue Devils turned up the defensive pressure.
It worked.
Alana Beard scored 21 points to help the second-ranked Blue Devils rally to beat the Wolfpack 75-56 for their 50th straight Atlantic Coast Conference victory.
Iciss Tillis added 18 points, and Mistie Bass had 13 for Duke (16-2, 7-0 ACC).
N.C. State came into Cameron Indoor Stadium still down in the ACC standings but with some confidence after successive victories over Florida State and Maryland.
The Wolfpack (10-11, 2-6 ACC) hit 17 of their first 30 shots and led the Blue Devils by as many as 10 points. But it would not last.
Duke held N.C. State to 6-for-27 shooting the rest of the way and pulled away for the win.
"Their first half was phenomenal. We knew they had a lot of confidence and were playing their best basketball," Blue Devils coach Gail Goestenkors said. "They came in with a great game plan and really took it to us on the boards."
Kaayla Chones had 16 points and Sasha Reaves added 10 to pace N.C. State. Chones hit six of her first nine shots from the field, including a layup that put N.C. State up 29-19.
N.C. State scored 24 points in the paint to Duke's 18 during the first half, and had 11 second-chance points to the Blue Devils' five.
"We were a half step slow on everything we did in the first half," Goestenkors said.
Chones had 12 points in the first half, as the Wolfpack clung to a 36-34 halftime lead.
Duke scored the last four points of the first half, opened the second with a 14-0 run and never looked back.
"We picked up our intensity in the second half," Tillis said. "We got our hands on a lot more loose balls. We kept switching up our zones, that threw them off some, and we trapped out of our zones."
N.C. State was ahead 33-25 with less than three minutes before halftime. Tillis then hit three straight shots, including a 3-pointer, and assisted on the half's final basket by Bass.
Any ill effects still lingering from Duke's 72-69 loss to Tennessee vanished in a 23-3 run that spanned halftime.
"You just have to take a loss like that, learn from it and move on," Bass said. "Hopefully, you'll meet them again somewhere down the road."
Bass put Duke up 48-36 with a short jumper with 15:49 left in the game. N.C. State never again got closer than 61-53.
"We just couldn't keep up the pace," N.C. State coach Kay Yow said. "We ran out of steam, some."
