North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Tops Liberty 83-69
12/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. -
Box Score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
NC State found itself down by 13 in the first half and down by 11 in the second to visiting Liberty, but the Wolfpack hung on and used a couple of big runs to erase the multiple deficits. An 11-0 run in the second half gave NC State the lift it needed to earn the championship trophy at its own tournament and to earn its fifth win of the year, 83-69. The win pushed the Pack to 5-2 on the year, while Liberty dropped to 3-2. Senior Tiffany Stansbury led the NC State effort with a season-best 21 points, which included 15 points in the second half, and was named to the all-tournament team. Liberty freshman Megan Frazee led the game with 29 points and was named the tournament MVP.
"This was a tough game," said NC State head coach Kay Yow. "Liberty has its own tradition, especially in the last six years. We didn't start out sharp and went from using a man to a zone defense. Khadijah (Whittington) and Keisha (Brown) really stepped up for us tonight on defense. I was really pleased with our overall performance today, especially from what we needed to improve on from yesterday's game."
It was a rough start for the Wolfpack as visiting Liberty jumped out to a nine-point lead just five minutes into the half, which eventually extended to 13 with nine minutes to go. NC State turned the ball over three times and gave the Flames several extra offensive chances to provide the point cushion early on. The Wolfpack did not give in however and used a 15-2 run over a span of seven minutes to take its first lead of the contest. Senior Billie McDowell, who is known for her timely three-pointers, hit her first of the game to give NC State the lead at 36-33 with just under two minutes left in the half. Sophomore forward Khadijah Whittington, who at game time was sidelined due to illness entered the game and provided the extra spark the Pack needed. She had five points, four rebounds, two steals and one block in her 10 minutes off the bench. By the end of the half, Liberty had regained its lead using three free throws from Moriah Frazee, who had to exit early after earning four fouls. Her effort put Liberty up 37-36 entering the half. Her sister, Megan Frazee led all scorers with 15 points.
Liberty scored all of its points in the opening four minutes of the second half using five three-pointers, which included three from Megan Frazee. But it was NC State that would have the final say. NC State junior Marquetta Dickens tied off the Liberty offensive strike with a jumper with 15:36 to go to cut the lead to nine, 56-47. Stansbury led the strike with 15 of her 21 total points in the second half and NC State responded with an 11-0 run to tie the game at 56 with 11:41 left. Junior Keisha Brown, who finished with 13 points, had a jumper, a steal and a deflection to keep the Pack's offense and defense on board in that time. After a couple of easy baskets from Liberty, NC State broke away for good when Stansbury hit a pair of free throws at the 9:17 mark. Brown came up big again with a lay up at 5:42 to give the Pack the go-ahead it needed to wrap up the tournament championship. a
NC State will face Delaware State on Sunday, Dec. 11.
All-Tournament Team
Kitara McMoore, Elon
Ashley Boehnel, Soutern Miss
Tiffany Stansbury, NC State
Billie McDowell, NC State
Moriah Frazee, Liberty
MVP
Megan Frazee
