The No. 4 NC State women’s basketball team squandered a huge opportunity to pick up a top-ten win and take a commanding two-game lead in the ACC. The Wolfpack fell 66-59 to No. 9 Louisville Thursday night at Reynolds Coliseum, falling to second place in the ACC. After NC State fell down big in the first quarter, the final three quarters were a back-and-forth affair. Here are some of the key numbers from NC State’s loss.
2 – Points scored by NC State over the final 8:07 of the first quarter. After jumping out to a quick 6-1 lead to start the game, the Wolfpack shot 1 for 12 the rest of the period as Louisville closed out the quarter on an eight-minute, 18-2 run.
1 – Made shots by center Elissa Cunane, a 3-pointer. The 6-foot-5 sophomore shot an abysmal 1 for 12 from the field, constantly getting moved down low as she flailed around for shots under the basket. Cunane had her worst game of the season Thursday night and it came at the worst time possible.
1 – Assists by everyone other than senior guard Aislinn Konig. The typically balanced Wolfpack offense was stifled all night by Louisville’s elite defense, and the Pack assisted on just six of 21 made shots. Redshirt senior guard Grace Hunter picked up the lone other assist as NC State was constantly forced into taking bad, contested shots off the dribble.
25 – Shooting percentage for the Wolfpack outside of Kayla Jones (8 for 14). Lowlighted by Cunane’s 1-for-12 performance, NC State was horribly inefficient all night long and freshman forward Jada Boyd was the only other Wolfpack player to knock down more than three shots.
0 – 3-pointers made by Konig, the first time since Nov. 14 that she failed to knock down a deep ball. She fired away from deep six times and was unsuccessful all six times. The worst of her attempts came at an inopportune time. With NC State trailing by three after mounting a furious comeback, Konig forced up an ill-advised 3-pointer that was blocked and rebounded by Louisville.
39 – Shooting percentage on layups by NC State. The Wolfpack constantly tried to attack Louisville down low, and it never worked. NC State missed 20 layups and had nine shots blocked as its guards, forwards and centers were all deterred one after the other.
3 – Fast-break points scored by the Wolfpack. NC State head coach Wes Moore’s squad is one of the best in the country at forcing turnovers and turning those turnovers into points in transition, but the Wolfpack just wasn’t able to score in transition, with its inefficiency in the paint one of the main reasons why.
Sophmore center Elissa Cunane is blocked by Louisville forward Elizabeth Balogun on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020 at Reynolds Coliseum. Cunane went one for 12 from the field and tallied 10 points in the 66-59 loss.
