North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
9-11, 1-5
Miami
19-2, 5-1
No. 16 Miami holds off NC State 84-77
1/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2011
CORAL GABLES, Fla. - ACC-leading scorer Riquna Williams scored 27 points to lead No. 16 Miami to an 84-77 win over NC State Thursday night at BankUnited Center.
NC State (9-11, 1-5 ACC) was led by Bonae Holston's 22 points, including her 1,000th career point late in the second half that put her in a class of just 27 Wolfpack Women to score as many points, and the first to do it as a junior since Kaayla Chones in 2002-03.
Marissa Kastanek added 14 points, while Kody Burke and Brittany Strachan each had 11 points off the bench for the Wolfpack.
Trailing by six coming out of halftime, and falling behind by eight in the first few minutes of the second half, Kastanek tied the game 49-all with a three-pointer at the 15:24 mark of the second half.
Miami (19-2, 5-1 ACC) responded with a 20-5 run that was fueled by Wolfpack turnovers and Williams' uncanny ability to get awkward looking shots to fall. She had nine in the spurt to give the Hurricanes a 69-54 lead midway into the half.
It was 71-62 in favor of Miami after Burke took a beautiful feed from Kastanek and laid the ball in for two with 7:34 to play.
At the 3:05 mark Holston joined the 1,000-point club, and in the process cut the deficit to six. She connected the next time down the court to make it 79-75 with 2:34 left.
After two free throws from Miami's Morgan Stroman (18 points), two possessions later White drove the length of the court to get it back to a four-point spread, 81-77, with under a minute to play, but that ended up being the final bucket for NC State.
28 turnovers turned into 25 points for the `Canes. That offset a solid shooting night that saw NC State convert 50.9 percent of its shots, and went 16-of-21 (76.%2) from the free throw line.
In first-half action, seven-straight points, capped by a layup from Burke, gave the Wolfpack an early 12-8 lead with 14:03 on the first-half clock.
NC State maintained a three-point edge, 18-15 after a spinning jumper from Holston, but Williams caught fire with the `Canes next seven points for a 22-20 lead with just eight minutes to play in the opening half.
A runner from Myisha Goodwin-Coleman finished up a 10-4 NC State run that gave the visitors a 30-26 advantage with 4:21 until the half.
But first-half foul trouble began to mount for NC State. White, Devin Griffin, Strachan, Kastanek and Burke all picked up two fouls in the opening 20 minutes.
That helped fuel a 16-6 run for Miami to go into halftime up 42-36.
Holston led the Pack with 10 points, while Williams had 14 and Stroman had 10 by intermission.
NC State hosts the sixth-annual Hoops 4 Hope game on Sunday when Florida State comes to town for a 1 p.m., ACC contest.
