Iowa State won the first half, but North Carolina State overcame its shooting
woes to win the game 81-59 in the first round of the Junkanoo Jam’s Lucaya
division Friday night.
“The score didn’t indicate how
hard we played,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “I was really proud of their
effort. We just weren’t good enough to win.”
Behind a solid defensive effort,
Iowa
State (1-1) shook off an early
shooting slump to earn a 24-23 lead at the break. The teams traded baskets to
start the game, but ISU would only make two of its next 10 shots to give
N.C.
State (2-1) an 11-6 lead. Freshman
Heather Ezell nailed the Cyclones’ first 3-pointer of the game with 10:11 on the clock to knot the score at
11-11.
“I gained confidence after the
first three,” Ezell said. “I was able to find the basket early and get in a
rhythm.”
ISU senior Brittany Wilkins was
outstanding in the first half. The 6-3 post player drained a 3-pointer to give
her seven points along with five rebounds. The Cyclones closed out the half with
just five turnovers, three of which came in the first four minutes of the
game.
The Wolfpack, which was 0-of-10
from behind the arc in the first half, found the basket in the second half.
N.C.
State’s first six baskets after the
break were all 3-pointers, including four from Keisha Brown and two from Ashley
Key. The Wolfpack had made just seven treys combined in its first two games,
shooting a frigid 17.9 percent on the season.
“At half time, our game plan was
solid,” Fennelly said. “When they started hitting, we made adjustments, changed
up the zone. What it came down to was we gave up too many of (the 3-pointers) as
second shots.”
Iowa State kept it close with
five second-half 3-pointers, but NCSU extended its lead to double digits (61-51)
with 6:51 left and went on to hit three consecutive treys to put the game out of
reach. Despite ISU’s defensive adjustments, Brown and Key sank 3-pointers
seemingly on demand, finishing with eight and six 3-pointers made,
respectively.
“At first, our main focus was to
help inside,” Ezell said. “We tried to talk more and get out on a couple more of
their players that started to hit them.”
“We had an 8-10 minute span where
we shot ourselves in the foot,” Wilkins said. “We were tired and they were
making their shots. That shows our inexperience.”
Lyndsey Medders and Megan
Ronhovde, ISU’s two returning starters from last year, were a combined 3-of-16
at the half and finished 5-of-25 from the field for the game. Ezell drained
5-of-12 treys en route to a team-best 17 points, while Wilkins added 13.
North Carolina State owned
the boards with a 49-33 rebounding advantage.
Iowa
State shot just 33.9 percent in the
game while the Wolfpack sank 47 percent from the floor. Brown led all scorers
with 26 points, while Key added 22 points and Tiffany Stansbury grabbed 15
rebounds for NCSU.
Iowa
State will face the loser of the
Rutgers-North Florida game in the consolation match on Saturday at 6 p.m. CST.