North Carolina State University Athletics
Harper Earns Career Win No. 100 Against Davidson
11/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State head coach Kellie Harper earned career victory No. 100 Friday night with a 79-54 victory over old Southern Conference nemesis Davidson.
Helping in the milestone victory was four double-digit scorers for NC State (3-1). Sophomore Bonae Holston notched a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while juniors Tia Bell and Brittany Strachan contributed 15 and 10 points respectively off the bench, while freshman Marissa Kastanek was in double figures for the third time already with 11.
"I'm not calculating the numbers in my office, but I'm proud of this milestone," said Harper, who is in the midst of her sixth year of coaching at the college level. She spent her first five seasons at Western Carolina, before being hired in April at NC State.
"You look at other coaches with 1,000 wins and it really puts this in perspective."
Obviously referencing to Harper’s college coach Pat Summitt at Tennessee.
Alex Thompson led Davidson (0-3) with 16 points and Ashley Lax had 13.
The Wolfpack led 10-2 early with Kastanek scoring five points in the opening four minutes of the game and the home team was off and running.
The lead grew to 22-8 after 10 points off the bench from Tia Bell in a span of 3:17.
The lead ballooned to a 20-point advantage by the 5:55 mark when it was 30-10 after a Holston putback jumper from the baseline.
Kim Durham made a fast-break layup to make it 39-15 and Strachan added a layup of her own to go into the locker room with a 41-15 lead.
The Pack held a commanding 31-10 rebounding advantage at the intermission and limited Davidson to just 24.1 percent shooting in the first half.
The lead was at least a 30-point margin for most of the second half, before a late 13-5 run by Davidson cut it to the final margin of 79-54.
"We're improving every game," added Harper. "Which is going to be a mark of this team this year.
"I feel a lot better about this win tonight than I did after Tuesday. We're starting to get it. We're not there yet, but we're getting there."
Holston recorded her second 20-point game of the season and fifth of her young career.
The top free throw shooting team in the ACC fired a season-low 73.1 percent (19-for-26) from the charity stripe.
Davidson came into the game averaging 26 turnovers a game and gave up 20 more tonight with the Wolfpack turning those miscues into 26 points.
Harper improves to 7-5 all-time against Davidson and its coach Annette Watts, who was an NC State assistant on the 1998 Final Four team.
"I've really enjoyed being at home, especially the atmosphere here [at Reynolds Coliseum], but we're ready for a road trip," said Harper. "[ODU] will be a challenge!"
The Pack's first road game takes place on Monday at Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va., at 7 p.m.
Helping in the milestone victory was four double-digit scorers for NC State (3-1). Sophomore Bonae Holston notched a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while juniors Tia Bell and Brittany Strachan contributed 15 and 10 points respectively off the bench, while freshman Marissa Kastanek was in double figures for the third time already with 11.
"I'm not calculating the numbers in my office, but I'm proud of this milestone," said Harper, who is in the midst of her sixth year of coaching at the college level. She spent her first five seasons at Western Carolina, before being hired in April at NC State.
"You look at other coaches with 1,000 wins and it really puts this in perspective."
Obviously referencing to Harper’s college coach Pat Summitt at Tennessee.
Alex Thompson led Davidson (0-3) with 16 points and Ashley Lax had 13.
The Wolfpack led 10-2 early with Kastanek scoring five points in the opening four minutes of the game and the home team was off and running.
The lead grew to 22-8 after 10 points off the bench from Tia Bell in a span of 3:17.
The lead ballooned to a 20-point advantage by the 5:55 mark when it was 30-10 after a Holston putback jumper from the baseline.
Kim Durham made a fast-break layup to make it 39-15 and Strachan added a layup of her own to go into the locker room with a 41-15 lead.
The Pack held a commanding 31-10 rebounding advantage at the intermission and limited Davidson to just 24.1 percent shooting in the first half.
The lead was at least a 30-point margin for most of the second half, before a late 13-5 run by Davidson cut it to the final margin of 79-54.
"We're improving every game," added Harper. "Which is going to be a mark of this team this year.
"I feel a lot better about this win tonight than I did after Tuesday. We're starting to get it. We're not there yet, but we're getting there."
Holston recorded her second 20-point game of the season and fifth of her young career.
The top free throw shooting team in the ACC fired a season-low 73.1 percent (19-for-26) from the charity stripe.
Davidson came into the game averaging 26 turnovers a game and gave up 20 more tonight with the Wolfpack turning those miscues into 26 points.
Harper improves to 7-5 all-time against Davidson and its coach Annette Watts, who was an NC State assistant on the 1998 Final Four team.
"I've really enjoyed being at home, especially the atmosphere here [at Reynolds Coliseum], but we're ready for a road trip," said Harper. "[ODU] will be a challenge!"
The Pack's first road game takes place on Monday at Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va., at 7 p.m.
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