NC State
4-6
South Carolina
5-4
Wolfpack Women Fall at South Carolina
12/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 12, 2010
COLUMBIA, S.C. - A 20-point first-half deficit was too much for NC State to overcome in a 77-63 loss at South Carolina Sunday at Colonial Life Arena.
NC State (4-6) figured it would be a tough road to hoe Sunday with mounting injuries to some of its top front-court players. Freshman Kody Burke turned an ankle in practice Saturday and didn't suit up. That setback was on top of the injury to Lakeesa Daniel two games ago at Illinois.
Add to that early foul trouble from Bonae Holston, who was scoreless in six first-half minutes, and the offensive end of the court turned into a major struggle for the Wolfpack.
10-scoreless minutes by the Pack saw the home-standing Gamecocks march out to a 25-4 lead.
The lead grew to 22 points, 28-6, with 5:44 left until halftime. However, NC State found some continuity on offense and managed to outscore South Carolina 16-9 the remainder of the half to trail 37-22 at intermission.
Amber White was literally a one-person wrecking crew with 15 points before halftime for the Wolfpack. She went 7-of-15 from the floor, while her teammates combined to shoot 3-of-11 in the opening half.
South Carolina (5-4) went with a more balanced approach with nine players finding the scoring column, and shot 51.7 percent, including 5-of-10 from three-point land.
Literally adding insult to injury was the unexpected return of Gamecock senior Valerie Nainima. Just 4-1/2 months removed from surgery to repair a torn ACL, the 2010 second-team All-SEC performer had five points on two buckets in the first half.
She killed the Pack last season with 27 points in a 77-71 South Carolina win. A 13-3 run out of halftime cut the NC State deficit to only 40-35 with 15:25 to play, the closest margin since it was 9-4.
Nainima answered with another three, but Marissa Kastanek did the same for the Pack and it was now just a 45-41 deficit with 13:37 to play.
The uphill climb continued when Holston picked up her fourth foul at the 9:59 mark with South Carolina leading 54-44.
Strachan brought the deficit back to just six points, 58-52 with 7:38 left, and she struck again with two from the free throw line to keep it a 64-58 margin with 4:21 remaining.
A second-chance runner by Tasler got NC State to within four, 64-60, but that was the closest the Pack would get the remainder of regulation.
A three-point play by La'Keisha Sutton highlighted 10-straight points for the Gamecocks as they led 74-60 with 53 seconds left in regulation.
White led all scorers with 22 points, while Strachan (11 points), Holston (10 points) and Kastanek (10) each added double-figure efforts for the Wolfpack.
Sutton paced South Carolina with 18 points, while Maryland transfer Marah Strickland added 17 points off the bench, and Ieasia Walker had 15.
Some positives to take away from the game were the 36-26 rebound advantage for NC State, and an 18-5 surplus in second-chance points.
NC State hosts Presbyterian on Thursday at 4 p.m., at Reynolds Coliseum.
