North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Clemson
Wolfpack Defeats Clemson, 69-45
2/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. - Marquetta Dickens scored all 11 of her points in the second half and No. 19 North Carolina State welcomed Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow back to the bench with a ragged 69-45 victory over Clemson on Monday night.
Billie McDowell finished with 17 points and Khadijah Whittington had 15 for the Wolfpack (21-6, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Yow missed the previous game with the flu, the third one she's sat out this year. In January, she began treatment for a recurrence of breast cancer that forced her to skip two games, her first absences in 30 years of coaching.
Considering how the Wolfpack played in the first half, Yow might have wished she could have avoided this one, too.
They shot only 27 percent and trailed throughout most of the opening 20 minutes before a late run gave them a 22-19 lead. The Tigers (8-19, 2-12), who have lost 13 of their last 14 games, were equally as bad, matching N.C. State's 8-for-30 shooting.
Tasha Taylor led Clemson with 12 points and Reggie Maddox added 10.
Dickens and McDowell got the Wolfpack offense going in the second half. Dickens made a 3-pointer midway through to give N.C. State a 40-29 lead, its first double-figure margin of the game. Later, after Clemson closed within nine, McDowell added her second consecutive 3 to make it 50-38.
A jumper by Julie Talley on the other end cut it to 10, but Ashley Key and Monica Pope responded with 3-pointers to start a 10-0 run for the Wolfpack. Dickens capped the spurt with a jumper and a nifty pass to Key, who made a layup to put N.C. State ahead 60-40.
Clemson never got closer.
With the No. 3 seed for the ACC tournament already wrapped up, the Wolfpack had little to play for except Yow and their two seniors. Point guard Kendra Bell and little-used center Darline Jasmin both started as part of Senior Day festivities, and their teammates responded in time to send them out winners.
N.C. State shot 52 percent in the second half and forced 17 turnovers, using a variety of pressing, trapping defenses to confuse the Tigers.
Coach Jim Davis is finishing out the worst of his 18 years with Clemson. In his first 15, he never finished with a losing conference record, but now has three in a row.
KEITH PARSONS
AP Sports Writer
