Associated Press
GREENSBORO -- The horn sounded, followed by a heavy sigh of relief from Kellie Harper.
Her ACC Tournament debut -- full of missed shots and frustrating stretches -- ended as a success when North Carolina State held off Clemson 59-54 in Thursday night's first round.
Bonae Holston had 22 points and freshman Marissa Kastanek had a big second half to lead the sixth-seeded Wolfpack (18-12), who pulled ahead for good in the final 5 minutes to win its first ACC Tournament game since the program's run to the final in 2007.
As for Harper, well, the 32-year-old coach charged with following late Hall of Famer Kay Yow couldn't argue with a win no matter how ugly it was.
"It wasn't a pretty game," Harper said. "It would've been very easy for me to get frustrated with how we played. But you know, you do have a sigh of relief after a game like that."
On a night when both teams struggled with their shot, Holston and Kastanek provided enough scoring punch to get the Wolfpack past the 11th-seeded Tigers (13-18).
Holston finished 7-for-11 from the field and pulled down nine rebounds, helping N.C. State to a 47-33 advantage on the boards. She also hit two free throws in the final seconds to help seal the victory.
"My teammates were just giving me the ball in scoring position, so I just took advantage of those opportunities," Holston said.
Kastanek, named ACC rookie of the year earlier this week, scored 10 of her 12 points after halftime. She played just 10 minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls and started 1-for-5 from the field.
"I realized early in the season that if I go into the locker room after a bad first half with my head down and no confidence in myself, the second half is just going to be the same way," Kastanek said. "My teammates always say, 'The first half is over. Let's go to the second half."'
Harper brought her team to the Greensboro Coliseum to watch the Miami-Wake Forest tournament opener Thursday morning and get comfortable with the surroundings. But when N.C. State limped to 9-for-34 (27 percent) shooting in the opening half, Harper told her players the shots would eventually fall, then cut short her halftime chat to get her players back on the court for extra shooting.
She didn't mention that the Wolfpack had lost in the first round the past two seasons.
"We haven't talked as much about the tournament as much as each possession being important," Harper said. "The last thing I told them: 'Play each moment, play the possession and don't worry about the score.' I think just simplifying the game takes away a lot of anxiety."
Perhaps that's why the Wolfpack got some shots to drop at the right time.
Clemson took its first lead at 34-33 on a three-point play from Sthefany Thomas with 12:02 left, and led 44-40 on Lele Hardy's layup off a turnover with 7:53 left.
But Nikitta Gartrell hit a jumper off an inbounds play, then Kastanek buried a 3-pointer from the right wing. That flurry started the decisive 14-3 run, with Kastanek penetrating to find Holston for a layup then knocking down another 3 to make it 54-47 with 2:49 left.
Clemson got as close as three on a 3-pointer from Christy Brown with 10.7 seconds left, but Holston answered with two clinching free throws.
N.C. State shot 36 percent, while Clemson shot 35 percent and went 2-for-13 from 3-point range. Thomas scored 17 points to lead the Tigers, who had won their first round game the past two seasons.
"It was a disappointing end to a disappointing season," Clemson coach Cristy McKinney said. " ... We picked a bad day to have a bad game."
