N.C. State sprinted out to an early 23-4 lead against Dartmouth, but the lead wasn’t evident on the face of Kay Yow as she stomped her foot and demanded that her team play defense.

Yow, who became only the fourth coach in NCAA Division-I women’s basketball history to coach in 1,000 games, guided State (12-6, 2-3) to a 78-43 victory over Dartmouth at Reynolds Coliseum.

In her 31st season as head coach of the Wolfpack, she now has 686 career wins with 629 of them being at State. Yow said the game didn’t seem too different from any other game.

“It doesn’t seem very special,” Yow said. “It’s 1,000 games and I’m just thinking you have to be around a long time to coach 1,000 games.

Dartmouth coach Chris Wielgus said despite her team’s rugged play, she was happy to be a part of the historic game.

“We are glad to be involved in this game,” Wielgus said. “I wish we would have given her more of a game. Obviously she is a legend-to survive in this profession for 1,000 games, I don’t know how you do that. It’s not an easy way to make a living, and do it to 1,000 times, wow.”

The Big Green had 14 first half turnovers which led to 12 points for the Pack, and helping State to a 32-13 halftime lead.

The lead allowed Yow to play all 13 players on the roster, even though she didn’t imagine she would have the chance to do so before the game.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Yow said. “But if I had an opportunity, I wanted to get the entire bench to play. If they are going to play some, you would like for them to get a little time in the first half, and in the second half, go in and do just a little bit better.”

Yow said the team’s play of the bench was one of the best performances she had seen from them all season.

“One of the things that stands out in my mind is the bench play,” Yow said. “It’s not many times where you can go into a press room and take two players who came off the bench in a particular game.”

Sasha Reaves, who posted a season high with 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting, fell just one-point short of a career high.

“I was looking to come in and help my team in any way I can,” Reaves said. “I was trying to be consistent. We’ve been working a lot with when our opponent double teams the post and finding a way to score.”

Reaves teammate Marquetta Dickens also posted a season high when she scored 13 points.

Dickens said Yow spoke to her about being more aggressive.

“Coach Yow was talking to me and when she speaks, you better respond quickly,” Dickens said. “Sometimes people can see things that you need to work on better than you.”

After holding Dartmouth to 13 first-half points, the Big Green came out on fire to start the second half. They went on a 10-3 run to pull within 12 points.

Yow immediately called a timeout to regain focus.

“It was a lot about focus,” Yow said. “Getting back to great defense, we were just slacking and they were going hard. We can’t afford to have moments like that.”

The Pack responded with a 10-2 run of its own to eliminate any chance for the Big Green.

Reaves said the team knew it was Yow’s 1,000 game, but it wanted to approach it the same way it has every other game this season

“We knew it was her 1,000 game,” Reaves said. “We wanted to win, but we want to win every game. Whether it was her 1,000th or 2,000th game, we want to go out there and play hard and try to win every game.”

Yow said she is thankful to have been coaching for this long.

“There are lots of reasons why it might not happen,” Yow said. “I’m very grateful – I’ve been here a long time. I was in high school before I decided to come to college, it’s really special.”