North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Florida State
Wolfpack Sails Past Seminoles
2/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Freshman Khadijah Whittington scored 16 points and pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds to lead No. 21 North Carolina State to a 71-43 win over Florida State on Thursday night.
"I just tried to attack the boards more because in the past I haven't been going to the boards as hard," Whittington said. "I knew we needed this game. Tiff (Stansbury) got into foul trouble and I just went in there and did what I had to do."
N.C. State (19-5, 8-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), which took firm control of third place in the league, won its fourth in a row and seven of its past eight.
N.C. State held Florida State (21-6, 7-5) to one basket in the first seven minutes as it built a 12-2 lead. The Wolfpack dominated rebounding in the first half with a 25-15 advantage, including 10 on the offensive end.
Many of those resulted in easy follow shots for N.C. State as it built a 33-24 halftime lead.
"This could be the most complete game we've played all year," N.C. State Kay Yow said.
Florida State didn't get off to a much better start in the second half as it made only one of its first seven field-goal attempts.
"Our first three shots were in the hoop and out," Florida State coach Sue Semrau said. "That was part of it. If our identity is ever in whether we shoot the ball well then that where we're not very good. I think our mental effort from that point on wasn't there."
N.C. State led by as many as 30 points after a steal and layup in the backcourt by Whittington with five minutes to play.
Roneeka Hodges led Florida State with 13 points, which was six below her average.
The Seminoles shot 32.6 percent (15-of-46) in the game and finished with 20 turnovers. N.C. State hit 47 percent (31-of-66) from the floor and committed only nine turnovers.
"We've said all year long that N.C. State is the best defensive team in our conference," Semrau said. "I thought their defense generated their offense and it gave them confidence."
