North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Heads To Miami On A Mission
1/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
at
Miami (10-8, 0-4 ACC)
GAME DAY CENTRAL
Thursday, January 22, 2009
BankUnited Center (7,000)
Coral Gables, Fla.
Tip-off: 7 p.m.
TV/Webcast: CSS (Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast) Not available in Raleigh-Durham area
Radio: WKNC 88.1 FM (Raleigh), WRMT 1490 AM (Rocky Mount) & WCIE 1450 AM (Fayetteville)
Talent: Patrick Kinas and Robin Pate
XM Radio: Channel 191
Web Audio: www.GoPack.com
All-time series record: NC State leads 8-0
Last Meeting: NC State 51, Miami 45, 2/14/08 in Raleigh, N.C.
Next game: at Wake Forest
Monday, January 26, Winston-Salem, N.C., 7 p.m. (RSN TV)
Wolfpack Fastbreaks...
The Pack looks to avoid a second straight 0-4 ACC start Thursday at Miami
NC State has lost six games by six points or less, including 3 of last 4 games
NC State leads the ACC with only 15.9 turnovers per game
Fields leads the ACC in minutes played; Has played 11 full games
Fields and Gartrell are top scoring backcourt duo in ACC
Freshman Bonae Holston is averaging 12 points and 9.2 rebounds in ACC play
NC State has held 85 of its last 87 opponents to less than 50% shooting
Wolfpack is one of three ACC schools with 700 all-time wins. (UNC and UVa)
Coach Yow's 1,000th game at NC State took place Dec. 14 vs. Ole Miss
Shayla Fields became 25th Wolfpacker to score 1,000 points vs. Ole Miss
NC State has not lost back-to-back non-conference home games since 2002
Team has won 41 of the last 44 non-conference home games
ESPN's Charlie Creme has NC State in his first Bracketology projection
NC State was selected 8th in the preseason ACC standings
NC State has won at least 20 games 22 times under Coach Yow
Pack Takes Second Top-Five Team To OT in Eight Day Span
Despite a fourth straight loss, this time to No. 4 Duke, 61-58, on Monday night, it marked the second time in eight days that NC State has taken a top-five ranked team into overtime. The Pack lost 75-66 to No. 2 North Carolina on Jan. 11 in Chapel Hill.
Throw in a five-point, 64-59, loss to Florida State on Jan. 15, who at the time was knocking on the door of the top-25 and has since climbed into the national rankings, the Wolfpack has played three of the ACC's elite teams to the wire.
Beal and Gartrell Struggled Against FSU
Junior guards Sharnise Beal and Nikitta Gartrell combined to shoot just 2-for-26 from the field in a 64-59 loss to Florida State on Jan. 15. Beal went 1-for-11, while Gartrell suffered to shoot just 1-of-15 from the field against the Seminoles.
Beal came into that game averaging 17.0 points over the prior five games, which included a career-high 26 points in her first start of the season at Columbia on Dec. 22 and 23 points against Georgetown on Dec. 31.
Holston Notches Back-to-Back Double-Double's
Freshman Bonae Holston was a key figure for the Wolfpack against second-ranked UNC and Florida State by recording back-to-back double-doubles off the bench. At UNC, she recorded season highs with 19 points and 15 rebounds for her first career double-double. It was the first double-double by a freshman at NC State since Khadijah Whittington had 16 points and 13 rebounds against FSU on Feb. 17, 2005.
It was also the most points by a freshman in an ACC debut since Liz Bailey struck for 20 points off the bench in a 61-47 win over Wake Forest on Dec. 30, 2001.
She added 13 points and 10 boards against Florida State.
Pushing No. 2 North Carolina Into Overtime
The Wolfpack displayed a heroic effort in a 75-66 overtime loss at No. 2-ranked North Carolina on January 11 in the first game since Coach Yow announced she was stepping down for the remainder of the season. NC State led for a majority of the final 14 minutes of the second half and was up five with five minutes to play in regulation. Later a jumper by Sharnise Beal tied it up 59-all with 51 seconds left, sending the game into an extra session. In OT, UNC scored the first 10 points and went on to victory.
3-Pronged Perimeter Scoring Punch
Senior Shayla Fields and juniors Nikitta Gartrell and Sharnise Beal have become a formidable scoring trio from the perimeter this season - all three are averaging double figures in scoring.
Fields leads the Pack and is second in the ACC at 18.2 points per game, while Beal is chipping in 11.2 ppg and Gartrell is at 11.1 ppg.
Bench Providing Big Lift For NC State
The Wolfpack bench that is basically made up of Bonae Holston, Brittany Strachan and now Tia Bell, is contributing 22.3 points per game in three ACC contests so far.
That figure is well above the 13.6 point per game average in non-conference games this season.
Staff Changes
With Coach Yow stepping down for the remainder of the season, Stephanie Glance has been named interim head coach, the same role she took over in 2006-07, posting a 10-6 record while Yow missed 16 games.
Kristen Gillespie has been elevated to an assistant coach after serving as an assistant to head coach Kay Yow for the last two seasons. Gillespie played at NC State from 1996-99 and was the point guard on the 1998 Final Four team.
Valuing the Basketball
NC State has done a nice job of limiting turnovers so far this season, ranking first in the ACC with just 15.9 turnovers per game. That figure ranks 36th nationally.
Balanced Scoring Attack
Seven different players have scored in double figures so far in the 2008-09 season.
Double-Digit Scoring Games
Shayla Fields - 17
Nikitta Gartrell - 11
Sharnise Beal - 6
Bonae Holston - 5
Tia Bell - 4
Brittany Strachan - 4
Lucy Ellison - 2
Ironwomen Lead ACC in Minutes Played
Shayla Fields and Nikitta Gartrell rank first and second in minutes played this season in the ACC. Fields leads at 38.1 minutes per game as she has played 11 full games, while Gartrell is averagin 35.8 minutes and has gone the distance four times so far. See the next note - this is certainly nothing new for Fields.
