Wolfpack Women's Basketball heads to Purdue

NC State (2-0) at No. 12/13 Purdue (2-0)
November 15, 2006, 7 pm
Mackey Arena
Preseason WNIT Semifinals

Live Stats

NC State hits the road for first time this year
The Wolfpack Women continue its march towards the Preseason WNIT title when the Pack hits the road for the first time this year to take on Purdue on Wednesday, November 15 at 7 pm at Mackey Arena.
NC State knocked off High Point, 78-48, in the first round of the tournament last Thursday night in Raleigh. The Wolfpack then took down Iona, 59-34, on Sunday in the quarterfinal round of the WNIT.
If the Pack wins at Purdue on Wednesday, they earn a berth in the championship game on Sunday, November 19.
NC State will have to win four games over a 10-day period to capture the 2006 Preseason WNIT championship.

NC State improves to 4-2 all-time in the WNIT
The Pack's 59-34 win over Iona on Sunday upped its all-time record to 4-2 in WNIT action. The only previous entrance in the Preseason WNIT for NC State was back in 1996. The 13th-ranked Wolfpack beat Appalachian State, 79-50, at Reynolds in the first round. Two days later, on No. 7 Old Dominion's home court, NC State garnered a 65-62 victory in the second round in Norfolk, Va.
NC State later lost to the eventual champion, No. 11 Louisiana Tech, 71-54, in the semifinals. The club also fell the next day to No. 14 Notre Dame, 64-53, in a consulation game.

Wolfpack open season 2-0 for first time since 2001-02
It has been six seasons since the Wolfpack opened its campaign with back-to-back wins. It last happened during the 2001-02 season, when 10th ranked NC State downed Radford and Drake in its own tournament. The Pack would go on to open the year 6-0 in 2001-02.

NC State against Ranked Opponents
The Wolfpack posted a 3-7 record against ranked opponents last year and are 7-27 over the past five seasons.

NC State in Road Openers
The Wolfpack are 6-4 over the last 10 seasons when playing its first true road game of the season. Last year, the Pack fell, 54-52, at Saint Joseph's on November 20, 2005 in the second game of the year.

Second-Half Scoring Spree
NC State has outscored its first two opponents by a 79-38 margin. The Pack posted a 44-23 advantage against High Point. Then against Iona, it came out of halftime and outscored the Gaels 35-15.

Dramatic Improvement at the Charity Stripe
The Wolfpack finished last year as the worst free throw shooting team in the ACC at 62.2 percent. Through two games in 2006-07, NC State has shot 72.9 percent (35-for-48) from the charity stripe, the fourth best mark in the ACC.
Junior Khadijah Whittington shot a mere 55.2 percent last year. So far this season, she has made 71.4 percent (10-of-14) of her attempts. Also, Marquetta Dickens, who shot 63.8 percent one year ago, is at 72.7 percent (8-of-11) through two games.

Solid Team Defense
NC State ranks second in the ACC after allowing an average of only 41.0 points per game in its two victories last week.
The 35 points allowed against Iona was the fewest given up by NC State since a 76-29 win over North Carolina A&T back on December 18, 2004.

Scoring at a Premium
When NC State and Iona hooked up in the second round of the Preseason WNIT on Sunday, the two teams had a tough time finding a decent shooting touch. In fact, Iona missed its first 11 shots of the game and only shot 22.4 percent (15-of-67) for the game.
The two teams set a Reynolds Coliseum women’s basketball record by combining for only 93 points (59-34), snapping the previous record of 95 points, which was set in a 51-44 Pack win over North Carolina on February 10, 1987.

KD looks dominant in season-opening win
Junior forward Khadijah Whittington began the new season with an 18 point, 15 rebound performance in a 78-48 win over High Point on Thursday. She posted her eighth career "double-double". She cleaned up the boards in the first half with 10 alone in the initial 20 minutes of the contest.
She then went to work after halftime on the offensive side, scoring 12 of her 18 points in the second half. All toll, the 15 rebounds was the third most in a game in her career, while she also recorded her 29th career double figure scoring game.

Scouting Purdue
Purdue is ranked No. 12 in the latest Associated Press poll and 13th in the Coaches' Preseason poll. Similar to the Wolfpack, the Boilermakers have begun the season with a pair of blow-out wins at home. Purdue began the year with a 67-43 rout over Belmont in first round of the WNIT. They followed that up with an 83-51 win over Hartford.
All-American candidate Katie Gearlds leads four players that average double figures in scoring with 17.5 points per game. Erin Lawless (15.0), Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton (14.5) and Jodi Howell (11.0) round out a balanced attack for the Boilermakers.
Purdue was selected second in the Big Ten behind defending champion Ohio State. Gearlds was a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team.
Purdue posted a 26-7 record last year and an appearance in the "Sweet 16", had its season come to an end in a loss to North Carolina in the semifinals of the Cleveland Regional in the NCAA Tournament.
The Boilermakers are coached in her first season at Purdue by Sharon Versyp, a 1989 Purdue grad. She was named Purdue's eighth head coach on April 10, 2006 after one year at Indiana (19-14) and five years at Maine. She owns a 117-65 (.643) overall record.

NC State-Purdue All-Time
Wednesday will mark the first ever meeting between these two women's basketball power house programs.

20 Straight Non-Conference Wins at Reynolds
NC State extended its non-conference winning streak at Reynolds Coliseum to 20 games on Sunday with the win over Iona. The Pack has gone the last three plus seasons withouth a non-conference loss at Reynolds.
The last setback was a 69-57 loss to Brigham Young on December 14, 2002. In all, the Wolfpack have won 20 of its last 21 non-conference games overall at Reynolds.

Creme Selects Pack in Top-25
Charlie Creme, who has projected the NCAA Tournament bracket for ESPN.com the past four seasons, selected NC State No. 25 among his 64 teams he likes in 2006-07.

Pack Receiving Votes in both AP and Coaches' Poll
NC State is receiving votes in both the Associated Press and Preseason USA Today/ESPN Women’s Coaches’ Poll.
The Wolfpack garnered 17 votes this week in the AP poll, down from 25 the week before.
The Pack received 12 votes, the 14th most among schools outside the top-25 in the Coaches' poll.

Yow's Countdown Begins - Nearing 700th win
Head coach Kay Yow notched win No. 695 on Sunday in her 36th season overall on the sidelines and her 32nd with the Wolfpack. Her overall record of 695-320 (.685) puts her just six wins shy of eclipsing the 700 career win mark.
She will become just the sixth Division I women's basketball coach to ever accomplish that feat, joining Tennessee's Pat Summitt (913), Texas' Jody Conradt (882), Rutger's Vivian Stringer (750), North Carolina's Sylvia Hatchell (717) and former LSU coach Sue Gunter (708).
Yow's NC State record sits at 638-301 (.679). Her teams have advanced to the last three NCAA Tournaments and 19 of the 25 total.

NC State to host NCAA First and Second Round
With the start of the college basketball season just underway, the NCAA has announced tentative game times for the 2006 NCAA Women’s Tournament First & Second Round games set to be held at the RBC Center in March.
NC State will serve as the host institution to this exciting event, featuring a total of six games in a span of three days.
The first round at the Raleigh site will begin on Sunday, March 18. Games will be at noon, 2:30 p.m., 7:00 p.m., and at 9:30 p.m. on that day.The winners will advance to play on Tuesday, March 20, at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
For more information about the NCAA Tournament, including ticket information, go to GoPack.com.

North Carolina State University Athletics

Related News

Related Videos