Feb. 16, 2007 will be a day long remembered by fans of the women’s basketball team. Shortly after christening the court at Reynolds Coliseum Kay Yow Court, N.C. State defeated No. 2-ranked North Carolina in stunning fashion, spurring Yow’s squad into an ACC Championship matchup with the Tar Heels and ultimately into the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
Another aspect of that game that makes it memorable was that it was the program’s last win over Carolina, at least until Sunday.
In Kellie Harper’s first trip to Chapel Hill her team came back with a 74-63 victory, and while the win is Pack’s third in a row, lifting the Wolfpack (16-11) to an even 6-6 record in conference play, Harper said her team is cautious about its progress.
“We’ve seen major improvements,” Harper said of her team’s play during its three-game win streak. “But we have to make sure that we don’t get complacent. We have to keep getting better.”
Bonae Holston, who led the Pack with 20 points, and freshman point guard Marissa Kastanek nodded in agreement with Harper during the press conference, though Holston seemed to suggest there was no way she would approach the Carolina game with complacency.
“When they came to our house, they stayed on the court and they were singing,” she said, noting State’s earlier loss to the Tar Heels at Reynolds Coliseum. “[Winning] was a great feeling.”\
State’s defense limited the Heels’ leading scorer, Italee Lucas, to six points on 2 of 13 shooting in the first half, while the Pack’s Brittany Strachan hit three of her five three-point attempts to pace the Wolfpack to a 37-36 lead at intermission.
“[Strachan] gave us a huge spark when we need it,” Harper said. “She did some really nice things for us and had a really great game.”
The other side of halftime was a different story, however, as Carolina started the half with an 8-0 run before State scored its first points of the second on a free throw at the 13:31 mark. Harper took a timeout at the 16 minute mark to settle her team.
We gave up too many offensive boards,” Harper said of the team’s effort after intermission. “We, visibly, looked frustrated. Our body language was not where it needed to be.”
Harper said she asked her players to up the tempo after the timeout and the change brought the team out of its slump.
“[Our tempo] was slow to begin the second half and we speeded up after that,” she said. “The kids responded. They changed their body language walked out with a lot of confidence.”
After the Pack ended its field goal drought with a 12:46 bucket by Bonae Holston State regained its shooting touch as Emili Tasler and Kastanek hit threes down the stretch to put the Wolfpack up for good. State’s free throw shooting and UNC’s inability to make shots fall put the game out of reach as State left Chapel Hill in Harper’s first trip with a 74-63 victory, though Harper said she’ll approach every game on the schedule with the same intensity.
“I think every game is the biggest game we’ve had,” she said. “I’m really proud of our kids for the fight they showed tonight.”
