RALEIGH, N.C. –
Shayla Fields scored a career-high 17 points to lead the NC State women’s basketball team to a 59-34 victory over Iona in the second round of the Preseason WNIT on Sunday afternoon at Reynolds Coliseum.
Fields, a sophomore from Salisbury, N.C., came off the bench to score her game-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Senior
Marquetta Dickens added 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds and four assists for the Wolfpack.
The victory moves NC State to 2-0 for the first time since the 2001-02 season. It also marks head coach
Kay Yow’s 695th career win, leaving her only five away from becoming the sixth Division I women’s coach to eclipsing the 700 career win mark.
Iona (1-1), which was coming off a 66-56 upset win of St. John’s on Thursday night, was led by a trio of players with six points. Shezaray Rozzell, Jessica Anger and Anna McLean turned in six points each for the Gaels.
Both team’s struggled with their shots the entire game. Iona missed its first 11 attempts from the field in the opening minutes, which allowed the Pack to take an 8-2 lead after a jumper by Dickens with 12:36 left in the first half. The Gaels didn’t connect on a field goal until the 11:17 mark on a jumper by Jessica Anger that made it 8-4.
Fields then went to work, scoring seven points over the next 5:56 to give NC State its largest lead of the first half, 23-7. Fields capped the 15-3 run with a 3-pointer with 5:21 showing on the clock.
The Gaels then made their comeback, outscoring the home team 12-1 the rest of the half to make it a 24-19 halftime lead for the Pack. Three straight layup’s by McLean brought Iona back into the game.
Neither team cracked 30.0 percent shooting from the field in the opening 20 minutes. The Pack shot 29.0 percent (9-for-31), while Iona shot 25.0 percent (8-for-25).
Both teams’ came out of the locker room still trying to figure out their respective shooting range. With the Pack up six, 34-28, at the 12:25 mark of the second half, an 8-0 run all but put the game out of reach for the Gaels. Buckets by
Sasha Reaves and Fields led the Wolfpack Women to a 42-28 lead with just under eight minutes left.
Iona would only get as close as 12 points, 42-30, the rest of the way as the Pack held its opponent to their lowest scoring output since December 18, 2004 when NC State posted a 76-29 win over North Carolina A&T.
“Shayla was very consistent with her last game and I am glad to see her do it in back-to-back games,” said NC State head coach
Kay Yow. “We did what we had to do to win the game. We continued to increase our defensive effort in the second half and I think that was the difference.”
Iona would shoot 22.4 percent for the game, while NC State converted 30.8 percent of its shots. Both team pulled down 51 rebounds.
NC State will play at No. 11 Purdue in the semifinals of the Preseason WNIT. The Pack will visit the Boilermakers in West Lafayette, Ind. on Wednesday.
PACK POINTSNC State has not trailed in either of its two games this year...the average margin of victory is 27.5 points...the Pack improve to 3-0 all-time verses the Gails and 7-0 against current teams from the MAAC...Fields began the day with 11 career points in six games...the two teams set a Reynolds Coliseum women’s basketball record by combining for only 93 points, snapping the record of 95 points, which was set in a 51-44 Pack win over North Carolina on February 10, 1987.
Courtesy: NC State
