North Carolina State University Athletics
Whittington, Goring lead Pack over Wake
1/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
RALEIGH, N.C. – Khadijah Whittington and Gillian Goring each notched a double-double to lead NC State to a commanding 80-57 win over Wake Forest in Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball action Sunday afternoon at Reynolds Coliseum.
Goring posted her second career double-double with a career-best 18 points and 11 rebounds, one off her best-ever effort. Whittington came up with her fourth straight double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Shayla Fields, who had a career-high 20 points at BC on Thursday, tossed in 13 points on the strength of three 3-pointers. Ashley Key rounded out four players in double figures with 10 points. The Atlanta, Ga., senior also had six boards and a game-high five assists.
Yolanda Lavender came off the bench after injuring her ankle in practice yesterday to score 31 points for Wake Forest (8-9, 0-4 ACC), becoming only the third player in the ACC to ascend the 30-point plateau this year.In front of a season-high crowd of 2,790 spectators, NC State (13-5, 2-1 ACC) broke open a slim 14-9 lead with a 16-2 run that took up 7:30 minutes of the first half that gave the home team a 30-11 advantage with 5:40 to go. Key and Fields began the run with a layup and 3-pointer respectively on consecutive possessions, while Whittington capped the spurt with a jumper.
Lavender drilled a jumper just before halftime to bring the Demon Deacons to within 34-19, but two from the free throw line by Goring gave the Pack a 36-19 lead at the break.
NC State continued its dominance in the paint of late, outscoring the Deacs, 16-4, in the opening 20 minutes. Goring led the way with 11 points at the half, while Fields had 10.
In the second half, Wake cut it to 10, 37-27, after a Lavender layup with 18:23 showing on the clock. However, Wake then went over five minutes without a bucket, which allowed NC State to increase its lead back to 48-29 with 13:10 left.
The lead would grow too as much as 25 points, 80-55, on a 3-pointer by Nikitta Gartrell with 29 ticks left. NC State is 9-0 at Reynolds this year, which is the second-best start to a season. Only the 1981-82 team was better, beginning the year with 16 straight wins.
The Wolfpack shot an efficient 51.7 percent from the field, 66.7 percent from 3-point range and 80.0 percent from the free throw line in the second half.
NC State now must prepare for Duke, who just knocked off No. 1 Maryland on Saturday. The game is scheduled for Thursday night at 7 pm at Reynolds.
PACK POINTS
NC State improved to 53-7 all-time against Wake Forest…Goring becomes the sixth player to lead the Pack in scoring this year…Goring’s 6-for-6 effort from the free throw line was far and away her best career effort, topping the three shots made at Saint Joseph’s last season…Whittington has seven double-doubles this year and 14 for her career…NC State has won seven games by more than 20 points this year…The Pack improved to 12-0 when opponents score less than 60 points.
