North Carolina State University Athletics
First Road Trip Of Season Takes WBB To ODU
11/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
NC State (3-1) at Old Dominion (0-2)
Monday, November 23
Ted Constant Convocation Center (8,600)
Norfolk, Va. - 7 p.m.
Live Video // Live Audio // Live Stats
All-time series record: NC State leads 18-14
Last Meeting: L, 55-79, 12/30/02, in Norfolk, Va.
Streaks: NC State won its last two games, while Old Dominion has lost its first two games of the season.
TV: None
XM Radio: None
Radio: WKNC 88.1 FM (Raleigh) Patrick Kinas and Demar Bonnemere
Online Audio: www.GoPack.com (Pack Pass)
Online Video: www.ODUSports.com
Next game: vs. Northwestern State (Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament) - Friday, Nov. 27 in Nashville, Tenn., 4 p.m.
Head Coach: Kellie Harper (Tennessee, '99)
Records (at NC State / overall) 3-1 (First year) / 100-66 (Sixth year)
Wolfpack Fastbreaks...
• Coach Kellie Harper earned career victory No. 100 Friday against Davidson
• NC State is averaging 83.3 points per game in its three wins; 47.0 points in its one loss
• Wolfpack leads the ACC in free throw shooting at 79.3 percent
• Harper has never faced Old Dominion as a head coach
• Amber White (25), Marissa Kastanek (20) and Brittany Strachan (13) all set career highs in points vs. FAU
• Kastanek is the first true freshman to start a season opener since Megan Zullo in 2006
• NC State was selected ninth in the preseason ACC standings
• 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
• NC State has held 99 of its last 103 opponents to less than 50% shooting
• NC State has not lost back-to-back non-conference home games since 2002
• Team has won 44 of the last 48 non-conference home games
Wolfpack Injury Report
Sharnise Beal: Out with knee injury
Hanna Halteman: Out with foot injury
Harper Earns Career Victory No. 100
Head coach Kellie Harper got career victory No. 100 Friday night with a 79-54 win over Davidson. She owns a 100-66 record in six seasons as a head coach.
Free Throw Line Sharpshooters
NC State leads the ACC in free throw shooting at 79.1 percent. Nikitta Gartrell is second int the league at 92.3 percent (12-of-13), while Tia Bell is third at 90.0 percent (10-for-11), while Bonae Holston is sixth at 84.6 percent (11-for-13).
Wolfpack Cruises To Win over Davidson
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 and freshman Marissa Kastanek was in double figures for the third time already with 11 points in the win over Davidson.
The Wolfpack's first-half 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. 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.
New Starting Lineup Leading the Way
Bonae Holston, Marissa Kastanek and Amber White are all new to the NC State starting lineup in 2009-10. Holston made four starts last year as a freshman, but flurrished off the bench and was named ACC Sixth Player of the Year.
Kastanek is a freshman and White missed all of last season due to injury.
The trio are the Pack's top scorers through four games.
No Sophomore Slump Here
Second-year forward Bonae Holston leads the club in scoring and rebounding at 14.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. She recorded a double-double last time out against Davidson with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Holston has two 20-point efforts this season and five on her young career.
Amber White Looks Fully Recovered From Injury
After missing all of last season with an achilles injury, red-shirt junior guard Amber White is second on the team in scoring at 12.8 ppg and is shooting a team-topping 58.1 percent from the floor. She opened the year with a then career-best 17 points against FIU and then wiped that number quickly away with 25 against Florida Atlantic last Tuesday.
Kastanek Does A Little Of Everything
Freshman Marissa Kastanek is third on the team in scoring at 12.3 ppg, leads Wolfpack guards with 4.5 rebounds per game and is tied for the team lead with 2.3 assists per game.
The Lincoln, Neb., native has scored in double figures in three of four games and has made two three-pointers in all but one game so far this year.
White, Kastanek Pace Wolfpack to Win Over FAU
Amber White scored a career-high 25 points, freshman Marissa Kastanek had 20 points and Brittany Strachan tied her career-high with 13 points in the 84-70 victory over Florida Atlantic.
NC State shot 57.7 percent in the first half to give the team its first halftime lead of the season, 41-32. The Pack then scored the first 10 points of the second half and led by double digits the remainder of the game.
Pair of Wolfpackers named to all-tournament team
Bonae Holston and Amber White were named to the Sheraton Raleigh Wolfpack Invitational all-tournament team for their efforts over the opening weekend of the season. Holston averaged 14.0 points and 6.5 rebounds, while White contributed 11.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.
20-point Scorers Against the Pack
NC State allowed four players to score at least 20 points in the first four games of the season. That only happened twice all of the 2008-09 season against the Pack in 30 games.
Gartrell Nearing 1,000 Career Points
Senior guard Nikitta Gartrell is 185 points shy of 1,000 for her career. She would become the 26th player to join the 1,000-point club at NC State.
Tia Bell Now In Top-10 For Blocks
Junior Tia Bell has moved into 10th place in school history for career blocked shots.
Player Games Blocks BPG
8. Tiffany Stansbury (2004-06) 59 99 1.68
9. Andrea Stinson (1989-91) 94 84 0.89
10. Tia Bell (2007-present) 46 80 1.73
All in the Family
Kellie and Jon Harper are among a small sample of just eight husband and wife combos that are currently coaching on the same staff in Division I women's basketball.
Hartford: Jen Rizzotti (head coach) and Bill Sullivan (assistant)
Idaho: Gavin Petersen (associate head coach) Karen Petersen (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)
A Long Time Coming For A New NC State Coach
It was 33 years, 11 months and eight days between Kay Yow's first game and Kellie Harper's first game at NC State. Yow's first game was on Dec. 6, 1975. Harper, the third coach in the history of the program, took over for the legendary hall of fame coach in April after Yow 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
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 358-95 (.790) all-time record in Reynolds.
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.
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 tied a school-record with eight blocks last season 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 37th nationally last season with 2.0 blocks per game.
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
