Defense allows State to stop skid at three

Kellie Harper won the coaching battle between former Western Carolina coaches Sunday afternoon in Reynolds Coliseum as the women's basketball team defeated Beth Dunkenberger and her Virginia Tech Hokies, 70-57.
 
Freshman Marissa Kastanek led State with 19 points as Harper defeated her former predecessor at Western, giving the Wolfpack its third conference win. Dunkenberger coached the Catamounts from 2000 to 2004 before Harper took over the program.
 
Kastanek knocked down half of her six three pointers one week after hitting just one of 10 from the field against Clemson in a 69-56 road loss.
 
"The whole week of practice I had the past couple games in my mind of how not to play," Kastanek said. "[My teammates and coaches] told me just keep shooting and it'll fall, and I did."
 
Kastanek's shaking of her personal slump came just in time to save the Pack from dropping its fourth game in a row, but Harper said a focus on fundamental defense during practice last week was crucial in helping to settle her players down on offense.
 
"We went back to the basics," Harper said. "We really worked on our defense and getting after people."
 
And after Sunday's result, Kastanek said the team should be able to lean on defense for the rest of the season.
 
"If we pressure the ball and just go crazy on defense, we win ball games," she said. "I think now we're sold that our defense can win us games."
 
State's defense led the way in the first half, forcing Tech into long possessions that mostly led to off-balance shots just as the shot clock expired. The deep shots fell early, allowing the Hokies to rack up a 14-4 lead.
 
"We were making them take some shots deep into the shot clock but I think we felt like we were rushing on the offensive end," said redshirt junior Amber White, who led the Pack with six steals.
 
Harper said she gathered the same sentiment from State's early 10-point deficit.
 
"Our team was playing so hard on defense and still giving up points, I felt like we needed the change," Harper said of dropping the man-to-man defense in preference of a 1-2-2 zone. "The change obvsiouly made a big change in their offense and we were able to settle down on the offensive end and score."
 
With the middle jammed, the Hokies were forced to take low-percentage mid-range jumpers, allowing the Wolfpack to put together an 11-0 run. The Hokies had zero points in the paint.
 
"When we go to our zone, we do pack it in and protect the paint," Harper said. "It's not a typical zone defense so it took them a little while to figure out what we were doing."
 
The change, plus the intensity on defense Harper stressed at practice allowed the lead to balloon to 13 just before the half, but could arguably be more important going into Thursday's game against conference leader Duke.
 
"We can really shut down some poeple if we put our mind to it," White said of the team's defensive effort.
 
Tech's Lindsay Biggs launched a nothing-but-net runner as time expired to send the teams into the locker room with the Pack up 33-23, which could have shook the mental focus of the team, though Kastanek said White's borrowed phrase from former coach Kay Yow has become the team's mantra: "When you get down, don't give up. When you get ahead, don't let up."
 
Though the defense did let up in the second half as the Hokies shot 48 percent from the field, State's transition game kept the Hokies at bay for the rest of the stretch, giving Harper's squad a much-needed win heading into Cameron Indoor Stadium to face Duke Thursday at 7 p.m.