After picking up a foul late in the first half with her team only up 29-27, Khadijah Whittington’s demeanor changed. She smirked about the call as she walked back on defense while Appalachian State’s Gigi Thomas started to clap. And that’s when Whittington went on a tear.

“Let’s go!” she yelled at her team.

On the following play, the senior forward pulled down a rebound. After sprinting to the other end of the court after a foul on Appalachian, she posted up, only to get quadruple-teamed. She spun baseline and found her way to the basket for two. A few plays later, she stormed in for a rebound, almost knocking two Mountaineers over in the process.

“I feel that we didn’t have enough intensity, like we were just going through the motions,” Whittington said. “I just got fired up right there — I don’t know what came over me.”

Whittington went on to lead the team with 26 points, 13 rebounds, six steals and four assists in N.C. State’s 82-69 win against Appalachian State on Tuesday night at Reynolds Coliseum. The 26 points is a career-high.

Throughout the contest, Appalachian State kept it close. At halftime, the Mountaineers were only down 38-35. But it wasn’t until late in the second half when the Wolfpack expanded its lead to double digits.

“It seemed like every time we started to get a lead, they came back,” coach Kay Yow said. “And then we got another one — they came back. But our team just hung in there.”

The Mountaineers shot 9-for-15 behind the arc — including going 6-for-7 from the 3-point line in the first half. Not only that, Appalachian State shot 14-of-18 for the game from the free throw line.

“That’s the two things that really kept them in the game,” Yow said.

In the first half, Whittington only posted seven points, while in the second half, the senior tallied 19 points and finished the game 10-of-19 from the field.

“KD didn’t get off to a great start, but she hung in there,” Yow said. “She came back in the second half and played a good game for us.”

By the numbers26 Career-high points scored by Khadijah Whittington10 Career-high rebounds by Lucy Ellison15 Career-high points scored by Nikitta Gartrell33.3 Percent in three pointers3 State’s lead at halftime33 Points off turnovers50.8 Percent in field goals

Source: N.C. State Athleticscompiled by Fidelis Lusompa