North Carolina State University Athletics
Whittington Leads Women's Hoops Past Illinois, 61-47
11/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
In a battle of dominant forwards, NC State’s Khadijah Whittington did what she does best.
She dominated.
The senior standout tallied 19 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two blocks for her eighth straight double-double, the third longest streak in school history, to lead NC State (7-1) to a 61-47 win over Illinois (5-2) in the first Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge Thursday night in Raleigh. Whittington out-dueled two-time Big Ten Player of the Week Jenna Smith (16 points, three rebounds), who came into the contest averaging 21.3 points and 11.5 rebounds.
The Wolfpack defense held Illinois to 36.7% (18-49) shooting overall and just 2-of-9 from behind the arc. NC State kept the intensity up on defense throughout the game, forcing 17 turnovers and scoring 16 off of the Illini’ miscues.
“This was a quality opponent we faced and I felt like we stuck with our man defense with great pressure,” head coach Kay Yow said. “We kept the tempo up all game and we didn’t drop our level of intensity. If we keep our focus like we did tonight, we can become a very good team.”
Shayla Fields scored eight of her 10 points in the second half and snared eight rebounds on the game to spark the Pack on both ends of the floor.
“I’m taking open shots and trying to be more confident,” Fields said. “I’m trying to get to the basket more instead of settling for outside shots.”
While Fields shined in the second half, it was another guard, Nikitta Gartrell, who had the hot hand in the opening half. Gartrell scored all 11 of her points in the opening frame on a variety of jump shots and drives to the basket.
Yow also got a solid performance from reserves Chanita Jordan and Amber White. Jordan grabbed four rebounds and scored six points while helping guard Smith throughout the night while White seven points in 16 minutes of play and notched a pair of steals.
Gartrell (11) and Whittington (10) combined for 21 of the Pack’s 32 first-half points as the Red and White took control of the contest from the outset. NC State shot 54% (14-26) overall from the floor and used six steals and two blocks to take a 32-20 lead at the break.
The Wolfpack duo sparked a 20-6 run to end the half, including a 10-0 spurt that pushed the lead to 15. A three-point basket from Illinois’ Lori Bjork with 31 seconds left helped stop the bleeding and marked the first points in just under four minutes for the visitors.
The Pack defense forced 11 turnovers in the opening stanza - including three shot clock violations and scored 12 points off of Illinois’ miscues. The Illini shot only 33% (7-21) from the floor and NC State held Smith to just six points on 2-of-8 shooting at the break.
Illinois fought to within eight points in the second half, including pulling to 51-43 on a pair of foul shots from Smith with 6:07 remaining. NC State answered with a 10-1 run over the next five-plus minutes to put the game out of reach with six made free throws, three each from Jordan and Whittington.
The Reynolds Coliseum crowd of 1,862 also saw Yow present a game ball to Whittington, who became the 24th player in NC State history to score 1,000 career points on November 20 against Arizona.
She dominated.
The senior standout tallied 19 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two blocks for her eighth straight double-double, the third longest streak in school history, to lead NC State (7-1) to a 61-47 win over Illinois (5-2) in the first Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge Thursday night in Raleigh. Whittington out-dueled two-time Big Ten Player of the Week Jenna Smith (16 points, three rebounds), who came into the contest averaging 21.3 points and 11.5 rebounds.
The Wolfpack defense held Illinois to 36.7% (18-49) shooting overall and just 2-of-9 from behind the arc. NC State kept the intensity up on defense throughout the game, forcing 17 turnovers and scoring 16 off of the Illini’ miscues.
“This was a quality opponent we faced and I felt like we stuck with our man defense with great pressure,” head coach Kay Yow said. “We kept the tempo up all game and we didn’t drop our level of intensity. If we keep our focus like we did tonight, we can become a very good team.”
Shayla Fields scored eight of her 10 points in the second half and snared eight rebounds on the game to spark the Pack on both ends of the floor.
“I’m taking open shots and trying to be more confident,” Fields said. “I’m trying to get to the basket more instead of settling for outside shots.”
While Fields shined in the second half, it was another guard, Nikitta Gartrell, who had the hot hand in the opening half. Gartrell scored all 11 of her points in the opening frame on a variety of jump shots and drives to the basket.
Yow also got a solid performance from reserves Chanita Jordan and Amber White. Jordan grabbed four rebounds and scored six points while helping guard Smith throughout the night while White seven points in 16 minutes of play and notched a pair of steals.
Gartrell (11) and Whittington (10) combined for 21 of the Pack’s 32 first-half points as the Red and White took control of the contest from the outset. NC State shot 54% (14-26) overall from the floor and used six steals and two blocks to take a 32-20 lead at the break.
The Wolfpack duo sparked a 20-6 run to end the half, including a 10-0 spurt that pushed the lead to 15. A three-point basket from Illinois’ Lori Bjork with 31 seconds left helped stop the bleeding and marked the first points in just under four minutes for the visitors.
The Pack defense forced 11 turnovers in the opening stanza - including three shot clock violations and scored 12 points off of Illinois’ miscues. The Illini shot only 33% (7-21) from the floor and NC State held Smith to just six points on 2-of-8 shooting at the break.
Illinois fought to within eight points in the second half, including pulling to 51-43 on a pair of foul shots from Smith with 6:07 remaining. NC State answered with a 10-1 run over the next five-plus minutes to put the game out of reach with six made free throws, three each from Jordan and Whittington.
The Reynolds Coliseum crowd of 1,862 also saw Yow present a game ball to Whittington, who became the 24th player in NC State history to score 1,000 career points on November 20 against Arizona.
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