After Friday’s quarterfinal game against Virginia, head coach Kellie Harper said, “for us, it’s not always pretty, but we grind it out.”
But the Wolfpack Women made it pretty on Saturday, defeating Boston College 63-57 to advance to the ACC Championships on Sunday, where No. 1 Duke will be waiting.
“Words can’t describe how proud I am of this group of girls. They show so much heart and poise and guts tonight. Boston College is a fabulous team,” Harper said. “That makes this win even more special, to beat a team that good.”
Senior guard Nikitta Gartrell put up a career-high 25 points to lead the Pack. In addition to her heroic scoring efforts, she exemplified a leader on the court, according to Harper.
“Kita looked like a senior that didn’t want to go home,” Harper said. “She was very motivated early on and in the second half, she put the team on her back and carried them. She has that capability.”
Senior forward Lucy Ellison shared a moment of comic relief with Harper on the sidelines when she sunk her first career three-pointer.
Down the stretch in the second half, the Pack rolled over the Eagles on a 15-0 scoring run. Several key factors on both ends of the court propelled the Pack comeback.
“With this group, you never know what’s coming. During that time, we got a couple of key turnovers,” Harper said. “We also shared the basketball on the offensive end. It wasn’t just one person doing all the scoring. That way, you can’t key in on one single player to defend.”
Harper said she encouraged her players to get the crowd involved and excited to aid in shifting the momentum in favor of State, who was clearly the favored team of the Coliseum crowd.
“It was a tremendous few minutes of basketball,” Harper said.
After a slow start in the first half, freshman guard Marissa Kastanek came out of the locker room with a renewed sense of energy, which she attributes to her teammates.
“Kita came into the locker room a ball of fire. She said, ‘You know what, Brittany, you’re going to make the shots and Marissa, you’re not going to foul in the second half,'” Kastanek said. “We all pulled together and I think that’s the main thing that gets me going.”
Collectively, State shot 94 percent on free throws, which was an important factor in the win.
State takes on Duke for the ACC title on Sunday at 1 p.m. The teams only met once during the regular season, with a powerful Duke squad topping the Pack 70-39. After three intense games in three days, the team will catch up on film and recuperating prior to the final.
“We know that we have a big game tomorrow. Our focus has been tremendous through this tournament,” Gartrell said. “Tonight we’re going to have to rest up and be ready to play again tomorrow.”
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