Showing posts in the “N.C. State” category
Mike Potter ·
16 Mar 2010, 7:12 PM ·
3 Comments
DURHAM ATHLETIC PARK/DURHAM N.C. Central hosts yet another challenging baseball battle with an ACC foe, this time an N.C. State team that’s looking for its first road win of the season.
The Eagles are looking for their first win anywhere, and really haven’t kept more than a couple of games competitive so far this season.
Because the weather forecast isn’t good, the game will have a 3 p.m. start - sort of - instead of the regularly scheduled 6 p.m. starting time. It’s the first of their two scheduled meetings this season, as the Eagles will visit Doak Field at Dail Park on April 13.
Jeff Citero (0-1, 9.82), a junior out of Southeast Raleigh, will be on the mound for the Eagles while the Wolfpack sends big sophomore Mike Russo (0-0, 6.14).
It’s competitive from the start, but the Wolfpack scores in every inning, hitting five homers in a 24-6 romp. Continue reading »
ACC, Baseball, N.C. Central, N.C. State Akeem Hood, Andrew Ciencin, Anthony Wilson, Blake Murray, Chris Diaz, Chris Overman, Coppin State, Dallas Poulk, Danny Canela, David Scott, Drew Poulk, Elliott Avent, Henry White, Jeff Citero, John Gianis, Justin Goodson, Kurt Wilson, Mike Russo, Nate Smith, Pratt Maynard, Ross Plummer, Russell Wilson, Tarran Senay, UNC Wilmington
Mike Potter ·
15 Mar 2010, 9:56 PM ·
1 Comment
N.C. State's Marissa Kastanek dribbles up court as Duke's Karima Christmas defends during the ACC Tournament championship game. (Photo by Rob Rowe)
BACKYARD BISTRO/RALEIGH Kellie Harper couldn’t remember exactly when she had been in such a situation before.
Back when the N.C. State women’s basketball coach was a point guard at Tennessee the Lady Vols - who won three NCAA titles during her career - were pretty much in the NCAA Tournament before the season started. Then during her five seasons as head coach at Western Carolina and three seasons as an assistant at Chattanooga before that, Southern Conference teams knew they had to win the conference tournament or they might earn a bid to the WNIT.
But the Wolfpack (20-13) has been on the NCAA “bubble” ever since losing the ACC championship game to Duke eight days ago, although most of the bracketologists had N.C. State in the field.
Harper and her team gathered with about 300 fans on Monday night to watch the Selection Special on ESPN that announced the 64 competing teams.
Continue reading »
ACC, Basketball, Duke, N.C. Central, N.C. State, UNC-Chapel Hill, Women's Basketball Amber White, Cetera DeGraffenreid, Chattanooga, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Gonzaga, Hampton Pirates, Hartford, Jasmine Thomas, Joanne P. McCallie, Joy Cheek, Kellie Harper, Louisiana State, Marissa Kastanek, Michigan State, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Nikitta Gartrell, Portland State, Southern Conference, Sylvia Hatchell, Texas A&M, UCLA, Virginia Cavaliers, Western Carolina
Mike Potter ·
14 Mar 2010, 11:01 PM ·
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ACC champion Duke (27-5) is going to be one of the 64 teams on the board when the NCAA Women’s Tournament field is announced tonight at 7 on ESPN.
N.C. State (20-13) and UNC (19-11) think they’re in, but won’t be sure until they see their names on the board tonight.
The Wolfpack and Tar Heels are two of about eight ACC teams who will be waiting with baited breath, first to make sure they’re in the field and then to see where they’re headed.
Duke and Florida State (26-5) are both hosting first- and second-round games, so it’s a certainty the Seminoles are also going to get an invitation. It would also shock the women’s basketball world if Georgia Tech (23-9) or Virginia (21-9) doesn’t get the thumbs-up.
The Wolfpack, under their first-year coach Kellie Harper, and the Tar Heels, under veteran Sylvia Hatchell, likely sealed their invitations with recent wins.
State had to avenge a regular-season loss by beating Clemson in the first round of the ACC Tournament, and the Wolfpack got that done and added two more wins to boot.
The Tar Heels’ signature victory was over Duke at Carmichael Auditorium on Senior Day - UNC’s final game before the ACC Tournament - but they had to beat N.C. Central on Sunday to avoid seeing the bid slip through their fingers, and they got that done. Continue reading »
ACC, Basketball, Duke, N.C. Central, N.C. State, UNC-Chapel Hill, Women's Basketball Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Joanne P. McCallie, Kellie Harper, Maryland Terrapins, Miami Hurricanes, Sylvia Hatchell, Virginia Cavaliers, Wake Forest
Bob Geary ·
12 Mar 2010, 12:26 AM ·
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Farnold Degand
“Guts.” That was Sidney Lowe’s summary of why N.C. State knocked off Clemson, 59-57, in the first round of the ACC tournament. In a very physical game in which the refs’ calls were few and random, the Pack was stronger physically and mentally.
Interesting that Lowe brought Tracy Smith and Farnold Degand to the media room. (I’m listening on the radio after seeing the game on TV.) Smith played big, as did Richard Howell. Nice game by C.J. Williams too. In fact, nice game by the State guards, who stood up to Clemson’s pressure and — yes, there were turnovers — they made plays. That’s right, the much-maligned State backcourt had an excellent game.
And the best in the backcourt, the MVP of the State win, imho, was Degand, who played great defense all night, scored nine points, and handled the ball against pressure with zero turnovers and high energy, so that Clemson paid a price for pressing. Lowe shuffled his other guards all night. I don’t see a boxscore yet, but I believe Degand played the most minutes of anyone.
Dennis Horner was the star on Senior Day against Boston College. But the other senior, Farnold Degand, was the star tonight. Nice to see. Degand has been through a lot over his four years here — a sit-out year, out with an injury the second year, out of control as a point guard his third year, and this year finding a role as a two guard where his speed has been a big asset offensively and defensively. I remember Degand from media day at the start of the season. Friendly, smart. Glad to see him finishing the season strong.
ACC, Basketball, N.C. State c.j. williams, Farnold Degand, Richard Howell, Sidney Lowe, Tracy Smith
David Fellerath ·
11 Mar 2010, 10:47 AM ·
2 Comments
WAKEMED SOCCER PARK/CARY—The first thing we saw last night was a red-clad team that looked like the N.C. State Wolfpack. Then we saw a team that was neither the Wolfpack nor the Carolina RailHawks. Closer observation revealed that the New England Revolution were in town, finishing up a light workout on their first day of training in Cary in advance of next week’s friendly versus the RailHawks.
The Revolution left the field and soon RailHawks began showing up in twos and threes. Warmups began. It was good to see Matt Watson on his feet again after that broken leg from last September. We overheard team captain Mark Schulte introducing himself to an unfamiliar teammate who would turn out to be Thomas Stewart, late of Derry City in the Irish First Division. Amir Lowery strolled up midway through warmups, howdying the onlookers like the celebrity he should be someday. Brian Plotkin, still recuperating from a groin injury, jogged on the adjacent field until he was informed by a RailHawks staff member that the field was closed (and perhaps toxic).
Off in the distance, someone who looked like goalkeeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell—who we thought was training with the New York Red Bulls—watched the proceedings for a few minutes before disappearing.
A light drizzle and overcast skies portended an unpleasant viewing experience, but the water went away and we were left with wind and a gloomy, unlit and pocky field. The RailHawks eventually played a game, spanking the fiesty Wolfpack by a score of 4-1. Although the Wolfpack—a solid, above-average team in the nation’s best college soccer conference—fought for every ball and enjoyed a fair amount of possession, they never seriously challenged the RailHawks defense.
“If it hadn’t been for the penalty, we defended well tonight and probably should have had a clean sheet,” RailHawks coach Martin Rennie said after the game. “We were working on a couple of set plays, defensively, which I felt we did quite well on. Generally speaking, there were guys getting 90 minutes for the first time. They got tired but that’s part of this process. We’re training twice every day and then playing games.”
The first two RailHawks goals were scored in the first half by an unnamed “Trialist No. 16″ playing up top, who turned in balls delivered from the Gregory Richardson side of the field. The third goal also came in the first half, on a Daniel Paladini free kick from 20 yards that he casually dinked into the lower left corner—completely ignoring the “wall” that was in front of him. The fourth came in the second half, when Stewart, fresh off a transatlantic flight, tapped in a cross from the left. Continue reading »
ACC, Carolina RailHawks, N.C. State, Soccer Caleb Patterson Sewell, Daniel Paladini, Derry City FC, friendly, Gregory Richardson, Joseph Kabwe, Jun Marques Davidson, Martin Rennie, NC State Wolfpack, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, Nic Platter, Ramak Niakan Safi, Thomas Stewart, Trialist No. 16, Zane Tharakan
Bob Geary ·
7 Mar 2010, 5:51 PM ·
1 Comment
Horner in early-season action
Being Dennis Horner was an excellent thing on Senior Day. The N.C. State senior broke out with 11 points in the final seven minutes of the game against Boston College, helping turn a tight defensive struggle into a 12-point Wolfpack romp. The final: 66-54, State.
Horner finished with 14 points and left to a “Den-nis Hor-ner, Den-nis Hor-ner” serenade from the fans, who watched him get everything out of his game that was there over four solid years, the first three as a dependable sub and this year as a steady-contributing starter.
Another day at the office for Tracy Smith, who put up 19 points and 7 rebounds in a bid for, I’d say, second-team all-ACC? (Heck, he could be first-team: Vasquez, Delaney, Scheyer, Booker and ???’ Nobody who deserves it more than Smith is coming to mind.)
Smith played good ball all year long for a team that would’ve been in a big trouble — like, no ACC wins — without him.
Plaudits today, too, for C.J. Williams, who backed up his usual good defensive play with a number of strong offensive drives to the basket (and one miraculous 3 to beat an expiring shot clock). His last drive — a hard move across the lane from the right wing to a full-extension left-hander that just rolled in and earned him an and-one (but he didn’t hit it) — made it 59-50, finishing BC off. Williams had 14 points, nine in the second half.
Julius Mays also played well in relief of Javi Gonzalez, who was in foul trouble early and managed just 19 minutes, most of them ineffective. Javi did make a running shot with 1:12 left and BC back within eight at 62-54. Mays, in 23 minutes, had six points, four assists and if they calculated the plus-minus score for the time he was in the game, State came from behind in the first half and pulled away in the second half when he was in the game.
At 5-11, State’s ACC record won’t be remembered in the annals. But this was a team that, with Smith and not much else in the way of actual talent, fought hard all year long, and bounced back after every miserable loss (and there were some) to finish well. Coach Sidney Lowe thinks they may finally have figured out, individually and as a group, what it takes for them to win. What it takes is, imo, playing strong, because they aren’t fast — Farnold Degand excepted — but they are physical. That and making some shots, which they didn’t do much in the first half today (it ended 24-23, State) but did in the second half.
“I’m proud of how resilient this group has been,” Lowe said.
Ironically, State finishes in a tie with the light-blue team from Chapel Hill despite having lost to them twice. State beat Duke, Wake Forest and Florida State, three of the better teams in the ACC. Had State beaten that very bad light-blue team either time they played, the Pack would be closer to the middle of the ACC and the light-blue team last, which is where it deserved to be.
On to the tournament, where as Lowe says, no matter if a team would beat you nine times out of 10 if the one time you beat them is at tournament time.
Smith, C.J. and Horner brought State back from a 44-40 deficit with eight minutes left.
Basketball, N.C. State c.j. williams, dennis horner, Julius Mays, Sidney Lowe, Tracy Smith
Mike Potter ·
7 Mar 2010, 5:50 PM ·
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Duke celebrates its first ACC women's basketball title since 2004. (Photo by Rob Rowe)
GREENSBORO COLISEUM It’s finals day at the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, and for the ninth time in its 11 seasons in Greensboro there are two North Carolina teams in the championship game.
One of two very different stories is going to be written today.
The most likely one is “Third Time’s the Charm!” That means Duke, which is ranked No. 9 nationally and the tournament’s top seed, beats N.C. State and wins for the first time in Joanne P. McCallie’s three straight trips to the final.
The other is “The Glass Slipper fits!” That means first-year Wolfpack coach Kellie Harper takes her outsized, scrappy sixth-seeded team shakes off its 70-39 loss on Feb. 11 at Cameron Indoor Stadium and pulls off a big upset.
Duke gets McCallie her sixth conference tournament title, including one in the Big Ten at Michigan State and four others at Maine, with a 70-60 victory in front of 9,432 fans.
Continue reading »
ACC, Basketball, Duke, N.C. State, Women's Basketball Alex Montgomery, Amber White, Bonae Holston, Boston College, Carolyn Swords, Georgia Tech, Jasmine Thomas, Joanne P. McCallie, Joy Cheek, Karima Christmas, Kellie Harper, Lynetta Kizer, Maine Black Bears, Marissa Kastanek, Maryland Terrapins, Michigan State, Monica Wright, Nikitta Gartrell, Virginia Cavaliers
Mike Potter ·
6 Mar 2010, 8:05 PM ·
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GREENSBORO COLISEUM Somebody wants to write a Cinderella story out of the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament this season, and the candidate is going to come out of this second semifinal game.
Waiting in tomorrow’s 1 p.m. title contest will be No. 8 Duke, which has played in the last two conference finals and knows exactly what the finals are all about.
Those candidates for the glass slipper are No. 6 seed N.C. State, a team common wisdom says is headed for the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens today, and No. 7 seed Boston College, which just needs to keep winning unless it plans to head to one of the two post-season consolation tournaments.
BC is coming off a very big upset over No. 2 seed Florida State, while the Wolfpack is coming off an impressive although probably less shocking conquest of No. 3 seed Virginia.
It’s the 33rd edition of the tournament, and never have No. 6 and No. 7 seeds squared off in the semifinals.
The regular season results don’t offer much predictive help, as the Eagles rolled 83-66 on Jan. 10 in Chestnut Hill and the Wolfpack got revenge 74-63 on Feb. 21 at Reynolds Coliseum.
And as is obvious, it’s a matchup between Eagle size and Wolfpack speed with State holding on to win 63-57. Continue reading »
ACC, Duke, N.C. State, UNC-Chapel Hill Bonae Holston, Boston College, Carolyn Swords, Florida State, Inga Muciniece, Jaclyn Thoman, Kellie Harper, Lucy Ellison, Marissa Kastanek, Nikitta Gartrell, Sylvia Crawley, Virginia Cavaliers
Mike Potter ·
6 Mar 2010, 4:57 PM ·
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GREENSBORO COLISEUM Here at the semifinals of the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, this is the side of the bracket that has gone according to form.
Top-seeded Duke is actually supposed to be here, as is No. 4 seed Georgia Tech. Both of these teams are certainly going to the NCAA Tournament no matter what goes down before sunset tomorrow.
The ninth-ranked Blue Devils got through the expected war with Maryland in the quarterfinals, while almost-ranked Georgia Tech came back to take out morning crowd favorite Wake Forest.
The Blue Devils won the regular-season meeting 64-50 on Feb. 19 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, with the Jackets putting on a respectable performance. Duke has won a ridiculous 30 straight games in the series.
And the streak continues, as the Blue Devils pull away over the past 10 minutes for a 67-55 victory.
There are seven lead changes and four ties in the first half, as the Blue Devils lead 29-25 at the break. Neither team leads by more than five points over the first 33 ½ minutes.
Joy Cheek finally puts the Blue Devils up by seven, at 55-48 on a layup with 6:19 to go.
Sasha Goodlett cuts it to 55-50 on a layup from Metra Walthour at 5:43 left before the Blue Devils pull away.
Duke scores the next eight points - on Jasmine Thomas’ layup from Shay Selby followed by Thomas steal and layup, a jumper from Cheek and another from Keturah Jackson at 2:47 for a 13-point lead.
Tech never again cuts the margin to single digits, and Duke is going to the final for the third straight season. The Blue Devils’ last championship was in 2004.
Karima Christmas (pictured) leads Duke with 15 points including 10-for-13 from the free-throw line, followed by Cheek and Jasmine Thomas with 10 apiece, all of Thomas’ in the second half. Continue reading »
ACC, Basketball, Duke, N.C. State, Women's Basketball Deja Foster, Georgia Tech, Jasmine Thomas, Joanne P. McCallie, Joy Cheek, Karima Christmas, Keturah Jackson, MaChelle Joseph, Sasha Goodlett, Shay Selby
Mike Potter ·
5 Mar 2010, 11:44 PM ·
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GREENSBORO COLISEUM It’s the final game of the second four-game day at the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, and this promises to be a good one.
No. 24 Virginia (21-8) is definitely headed for the NCAA Tournament in a couple of weeks, while N.C. State (18-12) seems to be in the “probable” category.
Unfortunately with the way the schedule goes in the 12-team conference they ran into each other only once this season, and the result was a 73-60 Cavalier win in Charlottesville on Jan. 27.
And there will be at least one really interesting personnel matchup. Virginia boasts senior Monica Wright, who was the ACC player of the year, and the Wolfpack has high-energy Marissa Kastanek (pictured), the conference’s rookie of the year.
Kastanek’s team comes out the winner in a loud battle, as the Wolfpack survives 66-59. Continue reading »
ACC, Basketball, N.C. State, Women's Basketball Amber White, Bonae Holston, Boston College, Brittany Strachan, Debbie Ryan, Kellie Harper, Marissa Kastanek, Monica Wright, Virginia Cavaliers
