North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Wolfpack Finding Its Rhythm Heading Into ACC Tournament
3/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 2, 2006
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BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - NC State women's basketball played the nation's toughest regular-season schedule, if the computer-generate Ratings Percentage Index is to be believed. And now is the time, says Wolfpack coach Kay Yow, for her team to reap the benefits of that grueling work over the last three months.
"This is the time of year that you hope it will pay off," Yow said, as her teams gets ready to play Clemson Thursday at 4 p.m. in Greensboro, in the first round of the Women's ACC Basketball Tournament.
Yow said she saw signs of that pay-off in the Wolfpack's most recent game, an 82-71 victory over No. 17 Boston College last Friday in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
"Our team was as focused in that game as any we have played this year," Yow said. "It was a team that had beaten us on our home court. It was their Senior Day. It was a game we both needed badly.
"I just really liked the way we played, on both ends of the floor."
And now, Yow would like to see her team, which has won four of its last five games heading into the four-day event at the Greensboro Coliseum, continue to play well on both ends of the floor. And it couldn't have happened at a better time.
"It seems like this team is perhaps finding a rhythm that it hasn't had this whole year," Yow said. "We need another game or two to test that theory, of course. But I think our practices are better and more consistent. I feel like they are coming together a little more and complementing each other better."
Senior Billie McDowell agrees with that assessment, and she's ready to prove it in the ACC Tournament, where the Wolfpack has struggled in recent years. Last year, the third-seeded Pack was eliminated in the first round by Maryland. The year before, State was eliminated in the second round by North Carolina. And three years ago, Yow's team lost in the first round to Duke.
"Most of the years I have been here, we haven't ended up in a good place in the the tournament," said McDowell, whose only career win in the post-season event was two years ago in a 45-43 first-round victory over the Tigers. "This is my last chance, and I am hoping and praying that we have a good showing this year.
"I feel pretty confident that we will. I am tired of playing, losing and coming home."
To win the tournament, the Wolfpack will have to win four games in four days, a difficult challenge, especially since there are three teams in the field - North Carolina, Duke and Maryland - that are ranked nationally in the Top 5.
The first challenge, however, will be the Tigers, which is coached by former NC State player Cristy Earnhardt McKinney, who scored 1,359 points from 1976-79.
While Yow doesn't like facing her former players, she's had to do more difficult things. In the 1980 AIAW Tournament, Yow had to coach agaisnt her sister, Debbie, who was the head coach at Kentucky. The Wolfpack won that game 71-63 at Reynolds Coliseum.
"Once the ball goes up in the air, that won't matter at all," Yow said.
Yow is just hoping that her team's experience against good teams will now pay off. The Wolfpack is 3-7 against ranked teams this season. Two of those wins, over No. 19 Vanderbilt and No. 25 Virginia Tech, came at Reynolds Coliseum. The other was at No. 17 Boston College. "We know we can hang in there, with the top teams in the country," said junior center Sasha Reaves. "That helps us out a lot."
However, the Wolfpack is still looking for a win over a Top 10 team, something that will have to happen for it to challenge for the school's fifth ACC Championship. Is State ready to make some noise, while most in Greensboro are focused on Duke, North Carolina and Maryland.
"Oh, yeah. I know for sure we can do that," McDowell said. "During the season, we gave them all good games. I think we can go there, compete with them and come out with a win."
You may reach Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
