Game #31: NC State

Today marks the final regular season game of Crystal, Jade, Laura and Ashleigh (Christie is not going to play) and from here on out losses mean that much more. While our seeding is all set for the ACC Tournament, it's not set for the NCAA Tournament and a loss would hurt our chances of a #1 seed. A win gives us our second best record ever in the ACC as well as the second most wins in program history.

NC State is 18-10 on the season and 6-7 in the ACC. Our only non-conference opponent was Temple and they won by 5. After starting the ACC season with a 2-6 mark, they have won four of their last five with their lone loss coming against North Carolina.

The Wolfpack averages 66.6 points per game and only allows 55.3. The most they have given up is 89 all year and only 85 to North Carolina. They shoot 42.0 from the floor and .326 from 3, while opponents shoot 36.3 and 28.3 respectively. NCS outrebounds teams 40.5 to 37.1. And they do block 5 shots per game.

NC State is led by Khadijah Whittington a 6-1 senior who leads the team in scoring (17.2) and rebounding (11.3). She shoots 52.1 from the floor and 59.9 from the free throw line. She doesn't take threes. Shayla Fields is second on the team in scoring at 13.2. She shoots 42% from the floor and 36% from behind the arc. Fields leads the team in assists and steals. She will take us off the dribble as well as spot up and must be contained. Third on the team in scoring is Nikitta Gartrell at 9.2 ppg. She mainly shoots from inside, but will take a three if left open. Gartrell helps distribute the ball and also helps on the traps. Sharnise Beal is next in scoring at 6.9 and like Gartrell she mainly stays inside the arc. Chanita Jordan is their other starting post player, but is the fifth option. She only shoots 50% from the floor and a little better from the line. She is 6'4. Their last starter is Amber White. She's another in the mold of driving to the hoop first and shooting from deep second. Megan Zullo is their shooter off the bench and essentially spots up from deep as she has only taken 30 shots inside the arc. Lucy Ellison is their replacement in the post. At 6'1, she's mainly in there to give Whittington and Jordan rest. She is foul prone as well.

Keys to the Game
1. Play uptempo and force NCS out of its game. They will want to slow it down and try to set up their trap.
2. Attack the paint. Whittington is the heart and soul of their team. Get her in foul trouble and the Pack will struggle. There is no reason why the ball shouldn't be fed into the post repeatedly to get her out of the game.
3. Take care of the ball. Don't force things.
4. Rebound the ball.
5. Put the game away early as we have three games possibly next weekend.

To win the rebounding title, Laura and Crystal need to outrebound Whittington by 5 and 6, respectively. Crystal needs nine rebounds to finish the ACC season averaging 10 rebounds a game in conference play and 27 points for averaging 20 points in conference play.

Defensively, we will probably play man with Kristi on Gartrell, Marissa on Fields, Marah on White, Laura on Whittington and Crystal on Jordan.

Don't forget to vote for Crystal.