Chris Reynolds
In a scrappy battle of offensive rebounds and tough defense, N.C. State defeated Georgia Tech 65-53 in Reynolds Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
Coach Kay Yow was pleased with her team’s play.
“It was a fast-paced game up and down,” Yow said. “Everybody played hard. There was a lot of athleticism on the court today. I think this is one of our best team efforts. They played exactly the way I have in mind of N.C. State playing. I really enjoyed it as a coach today.”
Tech has now played 11 ACC games, and coach MaChelle Joseph credited State with being one of the hardest teams the Jackets have faced.
“They did a great job getting a lot of hustle points out there,” Joseph said. “They blocked shots and were able to chase down their own blocks and got a lot of deflections and steals. It’s just a matter of who’s going to play hardest down the stretch, and I thought that today N.C. State won the hustle points. They’ve got to be pleased with their team playing so well.”
The starting lineup for the Wolfpack included junior Sasha Reaves at center, instead of senior Tiffany Stansbury. Stansbury, who leads the team in blocks and has 15 double-figure scoring games this season, has not started since missing the UNC game Feb. 2 for disciplinary reasons. Reaves stepped up to fill the position Sunday with 13 rebounds, a career high.
“Sasha’s a great player. She does all the little things and I think she should get more playing time,” sophomore Khadijah Whittington said. “Her minutes are already going up and her rebounding and her points too, so I think she’s key for us.”
Sunday, Whittington had 12 points and dominated defensively with eight rebounds and four blocks.
“We’re a team, and every day I go in there and play for the team,” Whittington said. “We just played as a team tonight and we got the win.”
State only played three off the bench.
“The reason for only playing about six people today is because we had a rhythm going,” Yow said. “The rhythm was great, and when you’ve got rhythm going and it’s as good as it was today, I want to be the last person to mess it up. They were working so well today and they did an incredible job on the boards.”
Running a motion offense, the Pack scored most of their points by putting the ball on the floor and attacking the boards. Junior Marquetta Dickens made the only three-pointer for the Pack.
“We’re just in a three-point shooting slump, but I feel like we’ll come out of it,” Yow said. “I feel that’s going to come around for us, exactly at the time when we need it most. They can also put the ball on the floor and score; if they were players that could only shoot three’s, I would be concerned. We encourage them to put it on the floor more and take it to the hole.”
Junior Ashley Key played point guard, contributing 15 points and seven assists until she came out of the game in the second half with 52 seconds left on the clock because of a bloody hand.
“We definitely have confidence in ourselves as a team, but we have to go one game at a time,” Key said. “We just prepare day by day and get ready for each team that we have coming up, and just go out there and play like a team and try to come out with a W.”