North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State falls 69-62 at Georgia Tech
2/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ATLANTA, Ga. – Stephanie Higgs scored 25 and Georgia Tech held off a furious NC State second half comeback for a 69-62 victory over the Wolfpack Sunday afternoon in Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball action at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
Winners of its last five conference games heading into today, NC State (18-8, 7-4 ACC) was led by senior Gillian Goring’s 20 points to pace four double digit Wolfpack scorers. Senior Marquetta Dickens had 11 points, while sophomore Shayla Fields had 10 points and senior Ashley Key added 10 points and a career-high nine assists.
Georgia Tech (15-10, 6-5 ACC), which snapped a two-game league skid, also received 20 points from Janie Mitchell and 12 from Chioma Nnamaka.
The game had the makings of a blowout win as the Yellow Jackets had a 45-28 advantage with 14:10 showing on the second half clock. However, the scrappy Wolfpack put together an impressive 24-9 run to cut the lead down to two, 54-52, at the 5:17 mark. Goring completely took over the game, scoring 13 points in an eight-minute stretch.
Goring would again bring NC State within two, 56-54, on a pair of free throws, but a costly turnover by the Pack with under two minutes to play led to a huge 3-pointer by Jill Ingram with 1:31 left.
Key drilled a trey of her own on the ensuing possession to make it 61-57, but Georgia Tech went 8-for-9 from the free throw line in the final minute to gain the victory.
Georgia Tech shot 46.0 percent for the game and was 17-of-19 from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, the Pack fired at a 40.7 percent clip from the field and only 10-of-15 from the line.
In the opening half, three field goals over the final 9:36 of the first half by NC State put them down 31-24 at halftime.
Both teams struggled with its offensive flow in the first half as they combined for 19 turnovers. The game was tied 14-14 when Keisha Brown converted a short jumper and Key made the second of her two shots from the line for a 17-14 Wolfpack lead with 9:36 to go.
Georgia Tech would finally get its offensive attack on track, putting together a 14-2 run for a 28-19 lead with just over two minutes left until the break. Higgs scored seven straight points to cap the decisive spurt for the Yellow Jackets.
Higgs had 14 points by halftime to lead Georgia Tech, while Nnamaka had eight points. Key had six points to pace the Pack, while Fields and Keisha Brown had five points apiece.
The Pack hosts North Carolina on Friday at 7 pm in its final game of the season at Reynolds Coliseum.
PACK POINTS
NC State is now 39-16 all-time against Georgia Tech…Whittington entered the weekend ranked 17th nationally in rebounds (10.5) and 100th in blocks (1.4) per game…NC State continued its dominance from the paint, holding a 36-16 advantage…the game featured seven lead changes and three ties.
