RALEIGH, N.C. - Freshman Khadijah Whittington scored 16 points and pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds to lead No. 21 North Carolina State to a 71-43 win over Florida State on Thursday night.<br>
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``I just tried to attack the boards more because in the past I haven't been going to the boards as hard,'' Whittington said. ``I knew we needed this game. Tiff (Stansbury) got into foul trouble and I just went in there and did what I had to do.''<br>
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N.C. State (19-5, 8-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), which took firm control of third place in the league, won its fourth in a row and seven of its past eight.<br>
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N.C. State held Florida State (21-6, 7-5) to one basket in the first seven minutes as it built a 12-2 lead. The Wolfpack dominated rebounding in the first half with a 25-15 advantage, including 10 on the offensive end.<br>
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Many of those resulted in easy follow shots for N.C. State as it built a 33-24 halftime lead.<br>
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``This could be the most complete game we've played all year,'' N.C. State Kay Yow said.<br>
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Florida State didn't get off to a much better start in the second half as it made only one of its first seven field-goal attempts.<br>
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``Our first three shots were in the hoop and out,'' Florida State coach Sue Semrau said. ``That was part of it. If our identity is ever in whether we shoot the ball well then that where we're not very good. I think our mental effort from that point on wasn't there.''<br>
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N.C. State led by as many as 30 points after a steal and layup in the backcourt by Whittington with five minutes to play.<br>
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Roneeka Hodges led Florida State with 13 points, which was six below her average.<br>
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The Seminoles shot 32.6 percent (15-of-46) in the game and finished with 20 turnovers. N.C. State hit 47 percent (31-of-66) from the floor and committed only nine turnovers.<br>
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``We've said all year long that N.C. State is the best defensive team in our conference,'' Semrau said. ``I thought their defense generated their offense and it gave them confidence.''<br>
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(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
