Clemson defeats N.C. State77-64

Jan. 11, 2004

Clemson, SC-Senior forward Lakeia Stokes led Clemson in points, rebounds and assists for the fifth time in the same game this year, as Clemson downed NC State in women’s basketball 77-64 on Sunday afternoon at Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum. The Lady Tigers improved to 12-3 overall, 2-2 in the ACC, while NC State fell to 8-9 overall, 0-4 in the ACC.

Stokes, a native of Covington, GA, had 23 points, 12 rebounds and four assists to lead Clemson in all three major categories. It was the fifth time she has done that this year, the fourth time in the last six games. For the year she leads Clemson in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and steals. In Sunday’s game Stokes hit 8-8 free throws and has now made 23 of her last 25. It was her 10th straight game with at least 16 points and her fourth double-double of the season.

Maggie Slosser also scored in double figures for Jim Davis’s team, who has now beaten the Wolfpack in Clemson nine of the last 10 years. White scored a season high tying 13 points and it was her first double figure scoring game since the December 15 win over East Tennessee State. White made 5-7 shots from the field and had six rebounds. Slosser added 12 points on 6-9 shooting and pulled in seven boards in 20 minutes before fouling out. Khaili Sanders added eight points, four rebounds and three blocked shots off the bench in a productive 19 minutes.

NC State was led by Ashley Key, who had 18 points in the contest off the bench, including 15 off 5-8 three-point shooting. Key had made just seven three-point goals in the first 16 games for the Wolfpack, then converted the team season high total against the Tigers. The point total was a career high for the freshman from Atlanta, GA.

Marquetta Dickens added 13 points and five assists, while Kaayla Chones added 10 points and five rebounds for NC State. Alvine Mendeng had nine points and a game high 14 rebounds. Clemson held Chones to five points under her average and the senior from Ohio had just six field goal attempts in 29 minutes before she fouled out.

Clemson shot 46 percent from the field and won the rebounding, 40-36. Rebounding had been a big problem for Clemson in recent losses to North Carolina and Florida State. Clemson outscored the Pack 14-12 in second-chance points and won the points in the paint statistic 34-28.

The first half was a closely contested 20 minutes as there were two ties and seven lead changes. NC State took a 14-9 lead in the first seven minutes as Chones hit her first three field goal attempts. But, Clemson went on a 10-1 run to take a 19-15 lead in a jumper by Stokes at the 10:36 mark.

NC State took a 27-25 advantage at the 5:13 mark on a three-pointer by Marquetta Dickens, who had had eight points and five assists in the opening half. But, that would be the last lead for NC State. Clemson went on a 13-5 run to close the first half behind three field goals by Slosser. Clemson outscored NC State 12-2 in second-chance points in the first 20 minutes.

Clemson moved the lead up to nine points in the first minute of the second half behind a jumper by Stokes and an inside score by Slosser. The 42-33 lead was Clemson’s largest of the game at that point. The lead varied between six and 11 points over the next eight minutes.

NC State battled back behind the three-point shooting of Key, who made four threes in the second half. Her three-point shot with 10:15 left moved the Pack to within 56-52. It was still a four-point game at 63-59 with 5:19 left when Key hit another three-point goal to bring the Pack to within four.

But Clemson went on a 14-5 run to close out the game. Sanders had two field goals, a blocked shots and two rebounds down the stretch to key the closing run. Clemson also made 10-12 free throw attempts inside the last four minutes of the game, including 6-6 by Stokes. Clemson’s largest lead of the game was the final score.

Clemson will have a week off until a January 18 game at Georgia Tech. Clemson’s next home game will be January 21 against Wake Forest.