Courtesy: Eric Wilson http://www.gopack.com/ Amber White had 10 points and six assists in her first game action since the 2007-08 season. She missed all of last year with an Achilles injury.
RALEIGH, N.C. - A balanced attack by the NC State women's basketball team led to an 87-44 victory over North Greenville Monday night in an exhibition game at Reynolds Coliseum.
10 players found the scoring column for the Wolfpack, led by sophomore Bonae Holston's 19 points and 11 rebounds, in head coach Kellie Harper's first glimpse at her first team at NC State.
"I just found good opportunities to score," said Holston. "We've been working a lot on boxing out...I think that helped for some of the scoring opportunities. Amber [White] found me for a few scores and I just finished."
NC State scored the first 11 points of the game and the visiting Crusaders never got back within six points the rest of the way.
Marissa Kastanek, the lone freshman on the team, made the clubs first shot of the season, a three-pointer, and it was mostly a breeze for the much bigger, stronger, and quicker club from Raleigh.
The lead was trimmed to 15-9 at the 12:08 mark, but the Wolfpack responded with a 27-8 run to close out the first half.
A 32-11 rebounding margin sent NC State into the lockerroom with a 42-17 lead
The Bench came through in a big way with 23 first-half points as Harper was substituting liberally throughout the game. All 11 players that saw time played double figure minutes.
As the second half wore on the Wolfpack continued to take advantage of its size in the post and because of that the lead grew to as many as 43 points in the final minute.
Red-shirt junior Amber White also saw her first action in a year after missing all of last season with an Achilles injury. The Philadelphia, Pa., native looked good out there scoring 10 points, but more importantly from the point guard position had six assists against only one turnover.
"I was very excited, almost thinking I would be overly excited when I first got out there, but I tried to be patient and let the offense and defense come back to me," said White. "It felt great to be back out there!"
Another pleasant surprise on offense was senior Lucy Ellison. Owning a career scoring average of just over two points a game, Ellison chipped in with 10 points and nine boards, including going 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
"From the very first workout we did with these ladies when we got here, to now, she is hands down our most improved player," said Harper. "She is playing in practice with a lot of confidence, she plays hard and she's looking to score now...She feels good about herself, she feels good about her game and what she can do and we're giving her that opportunity.
Juniors Tia Bell and Brittany Strachan added 14 and 10 points respectively.
"We we're really excited," said Harper. "I know the girls were really excited to play somebody else. [I'm] pleased with the effort most of the game. I'm really anxious to go study this on film. I think film is a great teaching tool. We will watch a lot of it tomorrow and work hard to get better."
NC State officially opens the Kellie Harper era on Friday, Nov. 13 against Florida International in the second game of the Sheraton Raleigh Wolfpack Invitational. Tip off is scheduled for around 8 p.m.
Courtesy: Eric Wilson
