North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Georgia Tech
Wolfpack Wins 65-53 Over Georgia Tech
2/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2006
RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State women's basketball (15-9, 5-6 ACC), defeated Georgia Tech (13-11, 2-9 ACC), 65-53 on Sunday, Feb. 12. Three players reached double figures for the Wolfpack, led by junior Ashley Key's 15 points and a career-tying seven assists. Junior Sasha Reaves led all rebounders with a career-best 13 boards. Georgia Tech was paced by Chioma Nnamka's game-high 19 points. NC State's Khadijah Whittington finished with 12 points, while Marquetta Dickens added 13 points. It was the second straight game NC State outrebounded an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent and the lowest turnovers posted in a conference game with eight. The Pack travels to Clemson on Thursday, Feb. 16.
"This was a complete team effort victory," said NC State head coach Kay Yow. "We took care of the ball and worked against a very aggressive Georgia Tech defense. There are still some things we have to work on, but I am proud of the way we played today."
The Wolfpack opened the first half using a 7-2 run and saw junior Marquetta Dickens net a three-pointer and a jumper along the way. In fact, the Pack made four of its first six shots before the first media timeout. Georgia Tech wasn't as fortunate with its shot percentage. NC State held the Yellow Jackets to 25 percent shooting early on as it missed five of its first seven shots, but Georgia Tech's shooting woes ceased soon after. GT hit all three of its next attempts, which included two three-pointers by its leading scorer, Chioma Nnamaka and a layup from Jill Ingram. With just under eight minutes to play, the Jackets came within two, 18-16, nearly erasing the Pack's early eight-point lead. Just two minutes later GT's Jessica Williams hit the front end of two free throws to get the Jackets within one, 21-20. Nnamaka hit her third three-pointer at the five minute mark to give GT its second lead of the game, but not since its first basket, 25-23. A short jumper by Khadijah Whittington tied the score at 25 and GT took a timeout with 2:41 to play. The Pack's Billie McDowell knocked down a jumper with 1:33 to play to tie the score at 27 and fellow senior Monica Pope brought home a layup 30 seconds later to push NC State on top 29-27. The Pack sustained the lead for the remainder of the half, while holding GT without a basket for the final 1:46. Georgia Tech, led by Ingram and Nnamaka with nine points each, also forced the Pack to miss its final three shots. McDowell paced NC State with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, along with two rebounds, one block and one steal. Junior Sasha Reaves had seven of her 13 game-high rebounds before the break as well, helping the Pack to a 20-18 rebounding edge.
The second half started out much like the first for the Wolfpack. NC State used a 6-2 run to take a six point lead, 35-29, its largest margin since the 9:52 mark in the first half. However, Georgia Tech fired right back with two straight buckets to bring the score to 35-33 with 14 minutes left to play. NC State answered with two defensive stops, a steal and a layup from junior Ashley Key and a block and an assist from Whittington to Key, who then converted an old fashioned three-point play to put some distance between the teams, 40-33. Whittington had four blocks in the game, including three in the second half to keep GT off the rim. The Pack extended its lead to 12 - its largest of the game to that point, 48-36, using a Whittington layup and two free throws from Dickens with 8:21 remaining. Tech sliced into the lead a bit with back-to-back three-pointers, a jumper and two free throws, 58-51 with 1:45 to play. NC State went to work at the line after an aggressive defensive attack from Georgia Tech. The Wolfpack hit 9-of-14 free throws in the final two minutes to close the score at 65-53.
NC State travels to Clemson on Thursday, Feb. 16, for a 7 p.m. game.
--PACK--
