It took Nikitta Gartrell three years to get back to the second round of the ACC Tournament, but when the senior pulled down the final rebound with six seconds remaining in the women’s basketball team’s first-round matchup with Clemson, she assured her team would reach the second day of the tournament for the first time since N.C. State’s run to the championship game in 2007. That year Gartrell played just one minute in a quarterfinal win against Florida State.
She’ll likely see considerably more playing time in tonight’s quarterfinal matchup with Virginia, but Gartrell was quick to talk about how much it meant to her to find her team with a second-round contest after a 59-54 win.
“I’m very excited right now,” Gartrell said of continuing her team’s run in her last conference tournament. “I don’t know when the last time was I was sitting here advancing to the next round. I just have to take it game by game.”
And while Kellie Harper is in her first year with the Wolfpack, she wasn’t short on excitement for her team either.
“It was by no means our prettiest game of the season,” Harper said. “But at this point, a win is a win. It was a defensive struggle for both teams, but I’m really proud of our kids for finding a way and showing some resiliency to finish that game with a win.”
While State leapt out to a 14-5 lead on the strength of Bonae Holston’s 12 first half points, the Tigers put to rest any thoughts of a State blowout by closing out the half with a 14-10 run, leaving the Pack up five at 24-19.
Harper said one of the reasons the Tigers were able to cut into the lead was freshman point guard Marissa Kastanek’s foul trouble. Kastanek picked up her second foul at the 8:17 mark of the first half, sending the ACC’s Rookie of the Year to the bench for the rest of the half.
“Unfortunately, she got her second foul pretty early,” Harper said. “Obviously Marissa helps us offensively. She can put the ball in the hole and it really hurt us to finish the first half without her.”
Clemson didn’t quit there. After intermission the Tigers made it a game by taking their first lead at the 12:02 mark after a 15-9 run to start the half.
Clemson got the lead up to four before Gartrell sandwiched two mid-range jumpers around a Kastanek three-pointer to re-take the lead, and the Pack never trailed again. Kastanek hit two more threes in the second half as she made up for the 10 minutes she wasn’t on the floor in the first half.
“When I came into the game, I knew I had to bring my part back to the team since I had been out. I knew I had to help my teammates out,” Kastanek said. “I just did my best.”
State faces the Cavaliers tonight at Greensboro Coliseum at 8 p.m. The Pack lost its only meeting with Virginia this year, 73-60, in Charlottesville, Va.
