North Carolina State University Athletics
Women's Hoops to Battle Liberty for Championship
12/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State women's basketball will look to win its own tournament for the ninth time in 13 events. The Wolfpack improved to 4-2 after a 73-43 win over Elon on Saturday. NC State will face the 3-1 Liberty Flames, which advanced after defeating Southern Miss, 71-60. Tip-off is set for 3:15 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4. NC State senior co-captain Billie McDowell has posted back-to-back double-figure scoring performances and senior center Tiffany Stansbury has scored in double figures five of six games, including the last three games. The game can be heard live on WKNC FM 88.1 with Patrick Kinas and Demar Bonnemere. This is the first meeting with Liberty all-time.
Southern Miss (2-4) and Elon (2-3) will challenge for third place at 1 p.m. in the first game of the day.
NC State Wolfpack (4-2)
Upon her return to action, NC State senior co-captain has posted back-to-back double-figure scoring performances. She finished with 12 points against No. 19 Vanderbilt in her debut and followed with 16 points against Elon on Saturday. In addition, she has hit four three-pointers in both games and oddly enough, hit all four in each of the first 20 minutes. Senior center Tiffany Stansbury has recorded five double figure scoring performances in six games. In Saturday's 73-43 win over Elon, NC State's junior Sasha Reaves led all rebounders with a career-high 10 boards. Junior Ashley Key has recorded four double figure scoring games and rebounded seven caroms against Elon to set a new career high. In her third season with the Wolfpack, the Atlanta native has already tallied career-highs in points, three-pointers made in a game, free throws made in a game, rebounds and assists. Offensively, NC State continues to fire away. The Pack has posted 24 assists to its 31 field goals and shot a season-best 56.3 percent in the first half. Additionally, NC State has seen at least two players finish in double figure in every game. Defensively, NC State has outrebounded all six of its opponents heading into Sunday's championship game. The Pack has also forced an average of 17.5 turnovers a game, including no fewer than 18 in the last three games.
The Liberty Flames (3-1)
The Lady Flames downed Southern Miss 71-60 in the second game of the NC State tournament to advance to the championship game at 3:15 p.m. on Sunday. Liberty's Megan Frazee scored a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds, ending her streak of double-doubles at three. For the second-consecutive game Moriah Frazee was the second leading scorer as she collected nine points - going 7-of-8 from the line - and eight rebounds. After exchanging leads for most of the first half, Liberty finally stepped out of reach at the 7:49 mark of the first half. Several three-pointers, including two from Moriah Frazee pushed the Flames ahead and gave the lead for the rest of the game. Freshman guard Megan Frazee, one of the Frazee triplets on the Flames' squad, leads the team in scoring and is the only player averaging double figures in both scoring and rebounding with 19.0 ppg and 11.3 rpg. Liberty is returning just one starter from its 2004-05 squad that advanced to the Sweet 16 of last year's NCAA Tournament. Sophomore guard Allyson Fasnacht is the lone returner.
NC State is 9-1 all-time against Big South opponents and 8-0 at home. The Pack has not faced a Big South opponent since Nov. 28, 2001 when it defeated Charleston Southern on Nov. 28, 2001, 99-45 in Reynolds Coliseum.
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