N.C. State players lined up at center court in Reynolds Coliseum with faces of exhaustion and disappointment, as the women’s basketball team sang the school alma mater only to hear a crowd of Carolina students singing over them, flaunting the Tar Heels’ 79-70 victory.
Though the Wolfpack (12-5, 0-2 ACC) failed to recreate last year’s story-book upset in Raleigh, coach Kay Yow said she was pleased with her team’s effort in the loss.
“The thing I like most about this game for us is that we just played with so much heart,” Yow said. “We have a lot of young players who really tried to step their game up today, and I thought that they did a great job against a more seasoned and veteran team in terms of taking care of the ball and just fighting and challenging them.”
The first half was a back-and-forth battle, which slightly favored Carolina (16-1, 3-0) at the break with a 36-30 halftime lead, though State refused to let the Heels out of its sight. The Pack’s transition defense took Carolina out of its up-tempo, fast break offense and forced the Heels to work in the half court.
A battle emerged in the post between Carolina senior forward Erlana Larkins, a three-time All-ACC selection, and State senior forward Khadijah Whittington, the ACC’s leading scorer and rebounder.
Larkins scored nine of her 22 points in the first half, though Whittington fought to push her from the paint.
“It was very physical down there both ways,” Whittington said. “We knew that coming into the game. We just have to adjust to physical players like Erlana. We know she’s a physical person, and we didn’t trap her much. But I thought we did a good job of pushing her and making her face up. There’s a lot of physical play in the ACC, and that’s what we expect.”
State cut the Carolina lead to one point early in the second half on a Whittington fade-away, but Carolina regained control, leading by 11 halfway through the second half.
Though State made a late run behind junior guard Shayla Fields and sophomore guard Nikitta Gartrell, late-game foul trouble forced State to play less aggressively on the defensive boards, and allowed second chances for the Tar Heels, according to Yow. “I really hate that we started to back off as the fouls started to mount,” Yow said. “That’s something that we’re [talking to] our younger players about. You do have to be a little more careful, but you still have to play the game. You can’t just back off and give them the shot.”
The Pack’s main trouble in the game was controlling defensive rebounds, Yow said. State allowed 31 second-chance points on 28 UNC offensive rebounds.
“We did a great job on transition defense,” Yow said. “We did a great job of taking care of the ball with a lot of young players in the lineup. But the one thing, particularly in the second half, was the second-chance points. And that’s something that we’ll continue to work on because if we could just get that part and we keep the other two things going, then I think we have a chance to play some really good ball this season.”
Despite the outcome, the loss was a good learning experience for Yow’s young team, she said. Gartrell agreed the Pack can take a lot from the close defeat.
“As a team, I think we all learned that we can’t win them all,” Gartrell said. “But we played hard. We played smart, and we played with a lot of heart.”
By the Numbers6 — Turnovers for Khadijah Whittington6 — Assists for Shayla Fields9 — Rebounds for Whittington17 — Points for Fields18 — Turnovers for the Pack compared to 11 assists28 — Offensive rebounds for UNC while State totaled 21 offensive boards31 — Second chance points for Carolina42 — Points in the paint for the Heels
-Nick Jeffreys
Sights & SoundsBig crowd turnoutA large crowd showed up for the team’s “Pack the House” event on Sunday afternoon as the official attendance numbers were at 7,091 people. The fans stayed throughout and were definitely a part of the game — according to both UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell and coach Kay Yow.
Whittington hurt, but returnsState’s season looked like it could be in a ton of trouble when Khadijah Whittington went down with an injury early in the first half. She stayed on the court in pain and appeared to be in tears. She had some help walking off the court and went to the locker room only to return a few minutes later in the half.
-Nick Jeffreys
