North Carolina State University Athletics
Harper Era Gets Underway Friday against FIU
11/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Sheraton Raleigh Wolfpack Invitational
Friday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 14
Reynolds Coliseum
Friday's Schedule
Western Michigan vs. Vermont, 6 p.m.
FIU vs. NC State, 8 p.m.
Saturday's Schedule
Western Michigan/Vermont vs. FIU, 4 p.m.
Western Michigan/Vermont vs. NC State, 6 p.m.
Live Video (NC State game only) // Live Audio (NC State game only) // Live Stats
Wolfpack Fast Breaks...
• NC State is 31-4 all-time in season openers, including six straight games
• The Pack is also 31-4 in home openers, 20-1 when the first game of the season is at home
• NC State was selected ninth in the preseason ACC standings
• Wolfpack won its lone exhibition game, 87-44, last Monday over North Greenville
• Kellie Harper was hired in April as just the third head coach in program history
• Harper was inducted into the Tennessee Lady Vols Hall of Fame on Sept. 26
• 11 of the 12 players on the roster return from last season
• Freshman Marissa Kastanek is the lone newcomer to the program this season
• Seniors Nikitta Gartrell and Sharnise Beal both averaged double figures in their junior seasons
• NC State has held 95 of its last 99 opponents to less than 50% shooting
• Wolfpack is one of three ACC schools with 700 all-time wins. (UNC and UVa are the other two)
• 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
NC State Hosts Sheraton Raleigh Wolfpack Invitational
NC State opens the season by hosting the Sheraton Raleigh Wolfpack Invitational on Friday, Nov. 13 and Saturday, Nov. 14, at Reynolds Coliseum.
The games will begin Friday evening at 6 p.m., when Vermont and Western Michigan face off. NC State will open the Kellier Harper era immediately after when her club takes on Florida International at 8 p.m.
The consolation and championship games are scheduled for Saturday at 4 and 6 p.m., respectively.
A Long Time Coming For A New NC State Coach
It was 33 years, 11 months and eight days ago that Kay Yow coached her first game at NC State back on Dec. 6, 1975. On Friday, Kellie Harper will become just the third coach in the history of the program, taking over for the legendary hall of famer, who passed away from a lengthy battle with cancer on Jan. 24, 2009.
Other units of time between the head coaches first games at NC State:
• 12,397 days
• 1,071,100,800 seconds
• 17,851,680 minutes
• 297,528 hours
• 1,771 weeks
Team Effort Sends Wolfpack To Exhibition Win
A balanced attack by the NC State women's basketball team led to an 87-44 victory over North Greenville last Monday night in an exhibition game at Reynolds Coliseum.
10 players found the scoring column for the Wolfpack, led by sophomore Bonae Holston's 19 points and 11 rebounds, in head coach Kellie Harper's first glimpse at her first team at NC State.
NC State scored the first 11 points of the game and the visiting Crusaders never got back within six points the rest of the way.
Tia Bell added 14 points and nine rebounds, while Amber White, Lucy Ellison and Brittany Strachan each had 10 points as five players scored in double figures.
NC State Receives Votes in Coaches' Poll
NC State is receiving votes in the USA Today ESPN Top-25 preseason women's basketball coaches' poll.
The Wolfpack garnered 11 total votes from the panel of 31 Division I head coaches. Under the direction of first-year head coach Kellie Harper the Wolfpack will look to bounce back from a 13-17 record that wound up being just the fifth losing season in program history that dates back to 1974.
All in the Family
Kellie and Jon Harper are among a small sample of just seven husband and wife combos that are currently coaching in Division I women's basketball. In all seven cases the wife is the head coach and the husband is an assistant coach.
Hartford: Jen Rizzotti (head coach) and Bill Sullivan (assistant)
Long Beach State: Jody Wynn (head coach) and Derek Wynn (assistant)
NC State: Kellie Harper (head coach) and Jon Harper (assistant)
Texas Tech: Kristy Curry (head coach) and husband Kelly (assistant)
Tulsa: Charlene Thomas-Swinson (head coach) and Aaron Swinson (assistant)
Washington State: June Daugherty (head coach) and Mike Daugherty (associate)
Wright State: Bridgett Williams (head coach) and Kevin Williams (assistant)
NC State in Season Openers
The Wolfpack is 31-4 all-time in regular season openers. The Pack's last season-opening loss came against No. 25 UC Santa Barbara, 71-66, on Nov. 22, 2002 at Reynolds Coliseum.
The Pack hasn't lost an opening game to a non-ranked team since a 68-58 setback to Memphis on Nov. 22, 1985.
NC State in Home Openers
The Wolfpack is also 31-4 in home openers, including a 20-1 mark when the Pack plays its first game of the year at home. The only blemish is the loss to No. 25 UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 22, 2002.
NC State has won its last six home openers by an average of nearly 32 points, including 30-point victories in each of the last four seasons.
Harper Three Wins From 100
Head coach Kellie Harper is three wins shy of carer victory No. 100 after compiling a 97-65 record in five seasons at Western Carolina.
Gartrell Nearing 1,000 Career Points
Senior guard Nikitta Gartrell is 217 points shy of 1,000 for her career. She would become the 26th player to join the 1,000-point club at NC State.
Harper Inducted Into Lady Vols Hall of Fame
Kellie Harper was among the ninth group of inductees into the Lady Volunteer Hall of Fame on Friday, October 2 in Knoxville, Tenn. Athletes are eligible for inclusion 10 years after they have graduated from the University
Harper was the point guard on the Lady Vol basketball team from 1995-99. Behind her direction as the Lady Vol quarterback, she helped to lead her team to an unprecedented three consecutive NCAA titles in 1996, 1997 and 1998. The 1997-98 team finished the season with a perfect record with 39 wins and no losses. Her spectacular play earned her nods to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team in 1997 and 1998.
She holds the record of the most assists in the NCAA title game with 11, set in 1997; and in the Final Four with 20. To go along with those titles she helped to tack on two SEC regular season Championships, 1998 and 1999 and three SEC Tournament Championships, 1996, 1998, and 1999. She holds the SEC Tournament record for the most minutes played in a game with 43 minutes in the semifinal, overtime, game against LSU in 1997.
Stacked With Upperclassmen
For the first time in three seasons, NC State boasts more than one senior on its roster. This year the Wolfpack have four seniors in Sharnise Beal, Lucy Ellison, Nikitta Gartrell and Inga Muciniece. Toss in red-shirt junior Amber White and juniors Tia Bell and Brittany Strachan and this team brings a wealth of experience to the court for the 2009-10 campaign.
Amber White Returns From Achilles Injury
Red-shirt guard Amber White is back in action this season after missing all of last year after suffering an Achilles injury in the summer of 2008. She is expected to play a significant role in the backcourt this season.
Durham Is Back For Second Walk-on Season
Sophomore guard Kim Durham is back for her second season with the Wolfpack women after walking on to the team after she impressed in an open tryout last October.
New Role For Holston in Sophomore Season
After coming off the bench in all but four games last season, Bonae Holston is expected to be a fixture in the starting lineup for the Wolfpack this seaon. Holston enjoyed great success as the first reserve of the bench in 2008-09 and was named the ACC's Sixth Player of the Year after averaging 9.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
She was even better in ACC play by averaging 12.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per outing. Both figures led all freshmen in the league.
Ain't Nothing But a "Block" Party
NC State junior forward Tia Bell enters her third season already 11th in school history with 74 career blocks. She tied a school-record with eight blocks in the 60-54 win over No. 17 Virginia on Feb. 15, 2009.
The native of Washington, D.C., tied Genia Beasley's record that was set Jan. 29, 1979 against North Carolina.
Bell placed fourth in the ACC and 27th nationally last season with 2.0 blocks per game.
Double-Digit Scoring
Seniors Nikitta Gartrell and Sharnise Beal both averaged double figures in scoring last season for NC State. Beal averaged 11.5 ppg and Gartrell chipped in 10.9 ppg.
Gartrell Logs Plenty of Court Time
Senior guard Nikitta Gartrell ranked second in minutes played last season in the ACC. Gartrell averaged 35.5 minutes and played 40 or more minutes seven times last season, including three overtime games.
Amber White Earns Academic Award
Amber White was named a winner of the Academic Momentum Award by the Scholar-Baller® Program, in conjunction with the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS).
After a slow start to her academic career she was named to the ACC All-Academic team last season with a GPA over 3.00.
Each honoree will receive a recognition certificate and authentic Scholar-Baller® patch. In addition, the winners of each region will receive a Thinkman™ and Thinkwoman™ Trophy for their academic performances.
NC State Notches 700th Victory
NC State earned win No. 700 in program history with a 76-38 win over Jacksonville State on Dec. 29.
Only North Carolina and Virginia have more wins than the Pack among schools in the ACC and is one of only 24 teams that have hit the 700 win milestone.
Wolfpack women on YouTube
Video coordinator Jason Rasnake has set up a destination for fans to check out recaps of the Wolfpack women's games on the internet. Rasnake puts together audio and video clips of game highlights and post-game interviews with Coach Kellie Harper and selected players.
The web address is - www.youtube.com/wolfpackwomen.
Keeping up with the Pack
In addition to YouTube, fans can also keep track of the Wolfpack women at the following websites.
www.GoPack.com/womensbasketball
www.twitter.com/PackWomensBball
www.facebook.com/wolfpack women basketball
Home Court Advantage at Reynolds
The Wolfpack has never had a losing mark at home in 35 seasons of basketball. NC State owns a staggering 355-94 (.791) all-time record in Reynolds.
