State and Xavier struggled to find baskets and both shot below 40 percent for the game Tuesday night. The Musketeers, however, managed to get one more as they toppled the Pack 51-49 at Reynolds Coliseum. With the loss, State dropped to 8-2 on the year, while Xavier improved to 5-3.
Coach Kay Yow, whose team shot 35.4 percent on the night, pointed out the team’s difficulty scoring.
“We had trouble scoring, which was our whole problem,” Yow said. “We gave a great effort, but you can look at our own shooting percentage to explain the loss. The worst aspect was our 3-point shooting. I mean 7 percent, wow.”
Senior forward Khadijah Whittington was the lone State player who was able to find the basket consistently throughout the night. Whittington was 13-for-22 on field goals and scored 26 of the Pack’s 49 points, the team’s lowest point total of the regular season.
Whittington said that although she was happy with her performance, the team still needs others to step up and shoulder some of the scoring burden.
“I wouldn’t say it is a bad thing because I was putting them in, but we still need other people to score,” Whittington said. “I just stepped up tonight.”
Balanced scoring is something Yow said the coaches have preached on, and she said an increase in guard point-production bolstered State’s recent six-game winning streak. The opposite occurred Tuesday night, however, as no other player scored in double figures.
One indicative problem, according to Yow, is the lack of free throws the team attempted. State did not go to the line once in the first half and ended up going 2-for-6 from the charity stripe in the second half.
“We have to be more aggressive offensively; we have to be more attack-minded. We are not going to be able to play passively. We will never score and get on the free throw line like that,” Yow said. “We have to make moves. They have to be strong, aggressive, attacking moves.”
Although the team did struggle on the offensive side of the ball, the Pack was able to keep the game close. After switching to a zone defense at halftime, State held the Musketeers to 32.1 percent shooting in the second half. Sophomore guard Nikitta Gartrell, who had 12 rebounds in the loss, said the team waited until too late in the game to play aggressively enough to win.
“We have to come out hard at first, in the beginning of the game instead of waiting around. We can’t just sit back and sit back,” Gartrell said. “We should come out strong like we did in the games that we won.”
Yow said inconsistent offensive production was endemic to Tuesday’s loss, as well as the loss to St. John’s a few weeks back. Once the team can identify some players who can regularly score and bolster Whittington, Yow said the team will be able to alleviate these problems.
“We don’t know at this point who is going to be consistent for us. I am a firm believer you have to have a nucleus of three players to play at the elite level,” Yow said. “We just need 10 points, just a few baskets and some free throws, that’s it. We should be able to do that.”
It was a tight contest throughout, and the Pack had opportunities to win. With nine seconds remaining, Gartrell dribbled down the court and pulled up for what would have been the winning shot, only to see it fall short of the rim as time expired.
Overall, Yow remained proud of the team’s effort despite the loss. She explained it was one that could be justified because of the Pack’s desire to win.
“They work hard. They play hard,” Yow said. “It has nothing to do with their effort. I appreciate them playing really hard. You can take losses when you are playing hard. The thing that would drive you crazy is when you get no effort.”
Sights & SoundsWardrobe MalfunctionEarly in the first half, Xavier’s Megan Askew was checking in at the scorer’s table when she took off her warm-up and revealed that she wasn’t wearing a jersey, only an undershirt. She hurried back to the bench, grabbed her jersey and ran onto the court to jeers from the Reynolds Rowdies.
Mad MaestroDr. Paul Garcia, the pep band leader, left his podium with four minutes to go in the second half to express his discontent with a call one referee made that resulted in giving possession back to the Musketeers.
-Ty Johnson
By the Numbers18 first-half points by Khadijah Whittington24 first-half points for N.C. State7.1 N.C. State’s 3-point percentage30 Consecutive non-conference home wins for the Pack before Tuesday’s loss0-2 State’s all-time record against Xavier
-compiled by Ty Johnson
