North Carolina State University Athletics
Balanced Attack Leads Wolfpack Women Over Ole Miss
12/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. A balanced offensive attack, a perfect effort from the free throw line and a strong run to close the game led to an 80-71 come-from-behind NC State victory over Ole Miss Friday afternoon at Tad Smith Coliseum.
Four players scored in double figures for NC State (10-3), led by Khadijah Whittington’s 20-point, nine rebound, four steal and three-block performance. Nikitta Gartrell added 13 points, while Shayla Fields and Megan Zullo each tossed in 12 points respectively.
Maybe even more importantly, the bench duo of Amber White and Sharnise Beal combined for 17 points and 10 rebounds that just may have been the difference for the Pack.
Trailing by as many as 11 points in the second half thanks to consistent 3-point shooting by Ole Miss NC State outscored its opponent, 30-13, over the final 10:34 of the game to notch its second straight victory and goes into the holiday break on a good note.
At one point the Pack made nine-of-12 shots down the stretch. Three of those buckets came from White, who had nine points in only 13 minutes.
“I came in and brought the tempo up,” said White. “I thought the team was playing a bit sluggish, so I figured if I played strong defense and get the team a couple easy buckets we would be alright.”
And she was right.
After giving up eight 3-pointers in the first 24 minutes, the Pack switched out of its zone defense to its more customary man-to-man set up. That in turn brought White and Beal into the game and they hawked the Lady Rebel defenders most of the second half.
Fields may have struggled with five turnovers on the afternoon, but she also made two of the bigger shots in the second half. She tied things at 58-58 on 3-pointer that brought the Pack all the way back from 11 down.
Later her jumper at the foul line put NC State in front for good, 68-66, with 4:20 left.
And don’t forget the free throw shooting. Coming into the game, the Pack had shot just 64.6 percent from the line (eighth in the ACC). But today a perfect 12-for-12 effort loomed large.
And on the other side of the ledger, Ole Miss, a horrible free throw shooting team at under 60-percent, saw Shawn Goff miss three straight front ends of one-and-one shooting situations when the game was up for grabs.
Goff notched a new career-high with 20 points for Mississippi (5-5). Carla Bartee and Bianca Thomas each had 17 points apiece for the Lady Rebels.
“I thought the teams really mirror each other, both in talent and in effort displayed on the court today,” said head coach Kay Yow. “They forced us out of our zone defense because of their great shooting early, but I really think the energy that Sharnise and Amber brought off the bench was the difference in us winning today.”
Both teams used the 3-point shot effectively in the first half. The sharp-shooting Zullo connected on a pair of 3-pointers early to get things rolling for the Pack.
Chanita Jordan saw her first action since the ECU loss 12 days ago and laid in a bucket off an inbounds pass to increase the Wolfpack’s advantage to nine, 24-15 with 7:14 left in the first half.
Ole Miss rallied and took a 27-26 lead on a fast-break leaner by Shantell Black forcing the visiting Pack to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, Zullo drained her third 3-ball of the half and Gartrell answered with the same on the next possession for a 32-27 lead at the 3:01 mark.
From that point until halftime the 3-point shot was raining inside the Tad Pad. Thomas and Black put Ole Miss up 35-32 on a pair of treys, but Zullo again hit nothing but net from long range for what appeared to be a 35-all tie at the half only to see Thomas throw in a banked 3-pointer in the waning seconds for a 38-35 Lady Rebel lead at intermission.
Thomas came off the bench and set a career-high in points by half with 14. Zullo led the Pack with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
“This is a good road win for us, added White. “We need to stay focused as the break is upon us and come out next week and take care of business at home. But first I am going to enjoy going home and spending time with the family.”
NC State will enjoy the Christmas Holiday with a week off. The Pack will return to action at home against Alabama State on December 28th at 2 pm. Two days later, the red and white will host Western Carolina for another 2 pm tip off at Reynolds Coliseum.
Four players scored in double figures for NC State (10-3), led by Khadijah Whittington’s 20-point, nine rebound, four steal and three-block performance. Nikitta Gartrell added 13 points, while Shayla Fields and Megan Zullo each tossed in 12 points respectively.
Maybe even more importantly, the bench duo of Amber White and Sharnise Beal combined for 17 points and 10 rebounds that just may have been the difference for the Pack.
Trailing by as many as 11 points in the second half thanks to consistent 3-point shooting by Ole Miss NC State outscored its opponent, 30-13, over the final 10:34 of the game to notch its second straight victory and goes into the holiday break on a good note.
At one point the Pack made nine-of-12 shots down the stretch. Three of those buckets came from White, who had nine points in only 13 minutes.
“I came in and brought the tempo up,” said White. “I thought the team was playing a bit sluggish, so I figured if I played strong defense and get the team a couple easy buckets we would be alright.”
And she was right.
After giving up eight 3-pointers in the first 24 minutes, the Pack switched out of its zone defense to its more customary man-to-man set up. That in turn brought White and Beal into the game and they hawked the Lady Rebel defenders most of the second half.
Fields may have struggled with five turnovers on the afternoon, but she also made two of the bigger shots in the second half. She tied things at 58-58 on 3-pointer that brought the Pack all the way back from 11 down.
Later her jumper at the foul line put NC State in front for good, 68-66, with 4:20 left.
And don’t forget the free throw shooting. Coming into the game, the Pack had shot just 64.6 percent from the line (eighth in the ACC). But today a perfect 12-for-12 effort loomed large.
And on the other side of the ledger, Ole Miss, a horrible free throw shooting team at under 60-percent, saw Shawn Goff miss three straight front ends of one-and-one shooting situations when the game was up for grabs.
Goff notched a new career-high with 20 points for Mississippi (5-5). Carla Bartee and Bianca Thomas each had 17 points apiece for the Lady Rebels.
“I thought the teams really mirror each other, both in talent and in effort displayed on the court today,” said head coach Kay Yow. “They forced us out of our zone defense because of their great shooting early, but I really think the energy that Sharnise and Amber brought off the bench was the difference in us winning today.”
Both teams used the 3-point shot effectively in the first half. The sharp-shooting Zullo connected on a pair of 3-pointers early to get things rolling for the Pack.
Chanita Jordan saw her first action since the ECU loss 12 days ago and laid in a bucket off an inbounds pass to increase the Wolfpack’s advantage to nine, 24-15 with 7:14 left in the first half.
Ole Miss rallied and took a 27-26 lead on a fast-break leaner by Shantell Black forcing the visiting Pack to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, Zullo drained her third 3-ball of the half and Gartrell answered with the same on the next possession for a 32-27 lead at the 3:01 mark.
From that point until halftime the 3-point shot was raining inside the Tad Pad. Thomas and Black put Ole Miss up 35-32 on a pair of treys, but Zullo again hit nothing but net from long range for what appeared to be a 35-all tie at the half only to see Thomas throw in a banked 3-pointer in the waning seconds for a 38-35 Lady Rebel lead at intermission.
Thomas came off the bench and set a career-high in points by half with 14. Zullo led the Pack with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
“This is a good road win for us, added White. “We need to stay focused as the break is upon us and come out next week and take care of business at home. But first I am going to enjoy going home and spending time with the family.”
NC State will enjoy the Christmas Holiday with a week off. The Pack will return to action at home against Alabama State on December 28th at 2 pm. Two days later, the red and white will host Western Carolina for another 2 pm tip off at Reynolds Coliseum.
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