North Carolina State University Athletics
No. 23 Wolfpack Upset At Saint Joseph's
11/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2005
No. 23 NC State women's basketball gave up two free throws in the final two seconds to fall at Saint Joseph's 54-52. The loss evens NC State's record at 1-1, while Saint Joseph's improves to 2-0. The Pack had been down by one at the half and erased the deficit, jumping out to a 11-point lead with 9:42 left in the game, but a foul by junior Ashley Key after a free throw miss from sophomore Khadijah Whittington allowed SJU to come out on top. Three Wolfpack players finished in double figures, led by Key with 11 points. Junior Gillian Goring finished with a game-high 12 rebounds. The Hawks' Faith Schutte had eight-straight points down the stretch and finished with a game-best 16 points to lead SJU.
"This was a very disappointing game for us today," said NC State head coach Kay Yow. "We didn't execute on offense and gave up a critical foul at the end and put the game in their hands (Saint Joseph's). Our team has to be sharp and focused when the game is close and we didn't do that when we needed to."
The Wolfpack struggled offensively in the first half, missing several oppotunities to score and turning the ball over more than it would have liked. NC State shot just 26.1 percent from the floor and had 11 turnovers. Only senior Tiffany Stansbury had a consistent start as she was 4-for-6 from the floor in her 13 minutes on the court. In fact, things didn't get started offensively for the Wolfpack until junior Gillian Goring hit a free throw two minutes into the half. The point ended the 4-0 scoring run Saint Joseph's had early in the game. The Pack followed with a three-point field goal by junior Ashley Key at 16:16 after she stole the ball on the other end. Goring led on the boards with six rebounds. Defensively, NC State did force 11 turnovers using six steals, including two each from juniors Monica Pope and Key and two blocks from Goring. SJU's Faith Schutte hit back-to-back three-pointers to keep things close and two free throws by Whitney Ffrench pushed Saint Joseph's on top heading into half time, 21-20.
NC State came back after the break and erased the one-point deficit and took the lead one minute in after a layup by Key. The Pack then climbed its way back on top and eventually put themselves in good position midway through the half. NC State took its biggest lead with 9:42 to go after a Whittington layup put the Wolfpack up 42-31. After that however, the Pack slowly saw its lead slip away. NC State scored just three field goals in the final five minutes. The final moments of the determined who the final winner would be as NC State turned it over with one minute to go. SJU held control on its possession until Whittington stole the ball with five seconds to go and was fouled. She went to the line for a one-and-one, but missed. The Hawks rebounded and Key took a touch foul to put SJU back on the free throw line. Whitney French hit both of her attempts and put Saint Joseph's on top 53-52 with two seconds to go. NC State turned the ball over again and had to foul. Ayahna Cornish hit SJU's final point and the Pack's upset came to fruition.
The Wolfpack next travels to the Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam set for Nov. 25-26. NC State will take on Iowa State on Friday and will face either North Florida or Rutgers on Saturday.
