North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Miami
Wolfpack Battles Back to Hold Off Miami
1/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State women's basketball may have been down at the half, but it wasn't down and out. Junior Billie McDowell finished with a game-high 23 points, including 16 in the second half, to lead the Wolfpack to a73-59 victory over Atlantic Coast Conference newcomer, Miami on Thursday, Jan. 20. The win improved NC State to 14-4 and 3-2 in the ACC, while the Hurricanes lost their fourth consecutive ACC contest and dropped to 8-9, 0-4. The Wolfpack travels to No. 16 Maryland on Sunday, Jan. 23, for a 1 p.m. start to be televised on FOX Sports South.
NC State came out firing and took a quick 8-2 lead at the start of the first half, kicked off by a three-pointer from junior Billie McDowell on the Wolfpack's first possession. But Miami fired back and went on a 16-2 run of its own, leading to an 18-11 advantage with just over 11 minutes to go.
"We knew it would be a tough game, because when you have an ACC team coming off of a tough conference loss, you know that they are going to be ready," said NC State head coach Kay Yow. "It took us a while to realize how fired up and ready Miami was for this game."
Miami's seven-point lead was the largest NC State gave up in the half, as the Pack's offensive kicked back on and remained on for the next nine minutes. Junior Rachel Stockdale fended off Miami's Albrey Grimsley who hit two three pointers to keep the Hurricanes on top. Stockdale hit two three-pointers to go along with McDowell's two.
At 2:22, thanks to five-straight points from freshman Khadijah Whittington and a free throw from McDowell, the Pack took back the lead it had lost 11 minutes earlier. NC State led 34-33, until Miami's Yalanda McCormick hit her second three-pointer to push Miami ahead at the half, 36-34.
Miami entered the second half just as it left in the first, momentum was swinging its way. The Hurricanes crept out to an eight point lead three minutes into the game, but NC State rallied back to start an 8-0 run to take its first lead since the first half, 47-46 with 11 minutes remaining. McDowell hit two consecutive jumpers and Whittington nailed both of her free throws after she ripped down an offensive rebound.
Minutes later NC State pulled away and eventually took a nine-point lead, the largest for either team after junior Tiffany Stansbury hit one of her two free throws, to increase the lead to 59-50 with six minutes to go. Later, junior Monica Pope, who had seven points in 10 minutes off the bench, converted a three-point play after a breakaway layup and McDowell hit both of her awarded free throws after the Miami bench was given a technical foul with 17 seconds to go.
"When Monica (Pope) went into the game, she got into rhythm with us and I could feel the tide starting to turn," said Yow. "She really helped us pick up our play and turn the game around.
McDowell had 16 points in the half to finish with a game-high 23 points.
"We knew Miami would come out ready to play," said McDowell. "When we were on the court, we had to keep telling each other to pick our play up. It took a while for us to get our spark, but once we did, we started to play like we knew we were capable of doing."
Coach Yow earned her first win after an eight-day absence in which she missed a loss at home against No. 8 North Carolina and an upset win at No. 23 Virginia Tech. The win also prevented the Canes from getting their first win on the road and first ACC win this season.
Miami's Tamara James, the nation's leading scorer entering the game with 23.7 points per game, was held to just 11 points on 4-of-17 from the floor.
Whittington finished with her first double double of her career with 11 points and 10 rebounds as part of NC State's four players that reached double digits. Both Stansbury and Stockdale finished with 11 points.
 Khadijah Whittington had 11 points, 10 rebounds for her first double double.  |
|
NC State shot its best free throw percentage since shooting 80 percent (12-15) in the win at Mount Saint Mary's back on Dec. 29. The Wolfpack shot 79.3 percent (23-29) for its seventh win at home this season.
-PACK-
