North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
8-7
Clemson
8-8
Pack Falls in Wire-to-Wire Contest
1/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
RALEIGH, N.C. --- Despite a career-high 29 points from Bonae Holston, NC State fell 76-74 to Clemson in an Atlantic Coast Conference-opening thriller Thursday night at Reynolds Coliseum.
Holston finished the game going 11-of-21 from the field, 7-of-9 from the line, and added 13 rebounds to earn her third-straight double-double in the losing effort.
NC State (8-7, 0-1 ACC) failed to convert on two opportunities to take the lead in the closing seconds.
After Kirstyn Wright made both ends of a one-and-one to put Clemson (8-8, 1-0 ACC) up 75-74 with 28 seconds left, Holston missed a short jumper off of an inbounds pass with less than 10 seconds to go.
“There was a little contact,” Holston said, of her final shot, “but I should have finished it.”
Trailing 76-74 with 5.4 seconds left, Marissa Kastanek attempted to take the ball the length of the floor, but was fouled when a Clemson defender slipped to the floor, tripping her. Kastanek missed the front end of a one-and-one allowing Clemson to escape with the win.
“I’m disappointed that we didn’t get a win,” said NC State head coach Kellie Harper. “I’m disappointed that we gave up 76 points. We’ve been harping on it all year, if our defense doesn’t get better we’re going to keep feeling like this.”
Kastanek finished with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and collected six rebounds. Amber White was the only other NC State player in double figures, scoring 10 points going 4-of-16, grabbed six boards and dished out six assists.
A strong shooting performance from Clemson contributed to the outcome. The Tigers shot nearly 41% from three-point range, going 5-of-11 (45.5%) over the final 20 minutes.
Despite outdoing the Tigers 24-15 on the offensive glass, NC State only picked up a 34-30 advantage scoring points in the paint.
“We haven’t seen that much size and physicality in a while,” said Harper. “I think that we were a little shell-shocked. That’s how it’s going to be moving forward, and we’re going to have to be ready for it.”
The back-and-forth contest saw eight ties and 10 lead changes, including two in the final minute. Neither team built a double-digit lead all game long.
Clemson jumped out to an early 11-2 lead spurred by four Wolfpack turnovers over the opening 2:35, as NC State failed to make a field goal until the 17:23 mark. The Pack committed six turnovers before forcing Clemson’s first with 12:07 remaining in the half.
Brittany Strachan made her first three-point attempt of the game with 11:45 remaining which sparked an 8-0 Wolfpack run to wrest the lead from the Tigers for the first time.
After Clemson snapped the run on Lindsey Mason’s layup, the Pack heated up from long range with three-pointers from Breezy Williams and Marissa Kastanek to take a 27-24 lead.
Clemson retook the lead at 7:12, extending it to four on Sthefany Thomas’s three-point jumper at 3:05, but the basket would be the Tigers’ last of the half as NC State pieced together a 9-0 run, holding Clemson scoreless over the final 3:05 to take a 41-36 lead into the break.
NC State hosts Wake Forest on Monday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on the Regional Sports Network.
