N.C. State upends No. 17 Virginia

RALEIGH, N.C. — For one afternoon, the tears were replaced by cheers inside N.C. State’s Reynolds Coliseum.
After mourning the death of head coach Kay Yow for three weeks, the Wolfpack capitalized on a day designed to raise awareness for the disease that claimed the life of the Hall of Fame coach.
At times, the contest itself seemed secondary as pink shirts, shoes, uniforms and signs filled the sold-out arena in conjunction with the fourth-annual Hoops for Hope festivity.
In the end, the Wolfpack left the 8,560 fans in attendance applauding a near-perfect defensive display en route to a 60-54 upset of No. 17 Virginia. It marked the lowest scoring performance of the season for UVa.
The Cavaliers, who finished a two-game road trip mired in their first two-game losing streak of the season, dropped to
19-7 overall and 5-5 in the ACC after committing 20 turnovers and shooting just 36.2 percent from the field (21 of 58).
“To me, it was more of a celebration of what Kay would have wanted and how she would have wanted it,” Ryan said of her longtime friend. “She would have been very proud of everything that happened today. She would have definitely reveled in everything that took place today.
“There is no doubt in my mind that this is what Kay fought for, and not the least of which was the television coverage. She fought tooth and nail back in the 80’s for television coverage. The Wolfpack is to be credited for playing such a great game. They played very, very well today and hit great shots.”
With the emotions running wild in the facility, N.C. State raced out to an early double-digit lead when Nikitta Gatrell’s jumper put the Wolfpack up 18-8 with 10:40 left in the opening half.
“I knew we would have a start that was going to be difficult with all the noise in there and the significance of the game, but I wasn’t worried about the first 10 minutes of the game,” Ryan said. “I knew we would play our way back into it and we did.
“I felt like we really battled just to get to within two and I knew that we would come out in the second half and play very well.”
Virginia did just that, trimming the deficit to three, at 29-26, as center Aisha Mohammed closed out the scoring in the first half with a layup just 48 seconds before halftime.
And to open the second half, the Cavaliers dominated the Wolfpack, holding the host scoreless for the first seven minutes. In total, North Carolina State missed its first 11 shots after halftime, allowing Virginia to take a 38-29 advantage.
Magically, N.C. State found a rhythm from the floor and tied the game at 40-all with 8:34 left on a
3-pointer from Shayla Fields.
Virginia’s shooting touch coincidentally disappeared and costly turnovers fueled the Wolfpack run.
“We started to get the ball inside more, which was working for us, and we went away from it,” Virginia guard Monica Wright said. “We probably shouldn’t have done that because our shots weren’t falling. All of our short jumpers were flat. They were all over the place.”
After timeouts called by both teams, the Wolfpack took the lead for good with 7:53 left on a layup by Bonae Holston.
“They were the ones that did what we normally do and that is hit shots at critical times,” Ryan said. “They pushed it at the right time and they pushed the right buttons. They deserve all the credit.”
UVa cut the lead to three points twice in the final 6:44, but the Wolfpack (11-14, 3-7) answered every run and hit enough free throws down the stretch to seal just the victory.
Virginia was paced offensively by a 15-point effort from Lyndra Littles, who was nursing a sprained ankle, but the senior forward missed 12 of her 17 shots from the field and had seven turnovers.
“I could tell that I wasn’t in a rhythm by my third shot maybe,” she said. “I was hitting the back of the rim, it was too strong or it was too short, but you have days like that.”
Mohammed added 13 points and 14 rebounds, and Wright chipped in with 12 points despite missing 13 of her 17 shots from the field.
The Cavaliers return to action on Thursday at home against Miami at 7 p.m.