Fresh off its win over the No. 1 team in the country, the NC State women’s basketball team looked like it was headed for an upset hangover, trailing 21-19 at the end of the first quarter before pulling away for a 98-46 win over Coastal Carolina.
While it took the Wolfpack (4-0) some time to wake up, by the start of the second quarter, the Pack was well and truly rolling, outscoring its opponent 32-4 in the quarter, holding the Chanticleers (1-1) to just one made field goal in the second frame. After its big second quarter, the Pack never looked back.
“First quarter, I felt like we had a little bit of a hangover from Thursday night,” said head coach Wes Moore. “But we settled in, did a little bit of a better job defensively the next couple of quarters. Offensively, we got some transition going. Twenty-eight assists, as a coach, you love seeing that, everybody sharing the ball… Good to get everybody in there. We’ve got one more game before we open up conference play. It is all about trying to make sure we are ready a week from today to open that up.”
Grad transfer guard Raina Perez led the way for the Wolfpack with 11 points in the first half. In addition to her scoring, Perez put herself firmly in triple-double watch territory at the break with seven rebounds and five assists to boot. Perez finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
“I can’t say enough about how fortunate we are to have her here,” Moore said. “She is just such a heady player. Always prepared and usually gets the ball where it needs to go. Obviously, she is shooting the 3 well. She had seven rebounds, I believe, at halftime and ended up with eight with limited playing time in the second half. Very blessed to have her here. I’m excited about what she brings to our team. Definitely.”
Joining Perez as big first-half contributors were senior forward Kayla Jones and sophomore wing Jakia Brown-Turner with nine and 10 points, respectively. All of Brown-Turner’s first-half points came in the Wolfpack’s stunning second quarter. The duo ended the game with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Jones also grabbed eight rebounds, and Brown-Turner provided eight assists.
In addition to sophomore forward Jada Boyd, who also missed the South Carolina game due to a meniscus injury, the Wolfpack was without senior point guard Kai Crutchfield. Moore said after the game that Crutchfield was not able to practice the last couple of days with a few nagging injuries that got aggravated during the South Carolina game, but he thinks she will be back soon.
Moore also confirmed after the game that he is hoping to get Boyd back before the end of the calendar year, adding that there “wasn’t really a whole lot of damage” when they did the arthroscopic.
“My wife thinks I’m taking her to the Angus Barn tonight to celebrate our 40th anniversary, but don’t tell her that we’re really celebrating Jada Boyd being OK,” Moore said.
Without Crutchfield, a trio of freshmen split time pairing up with Perez at the guard position. Rebecca Demeke got the start while Genesis Bryant and Dontavia Waggoner both got minutes off the bench. The trio finished the game with eight, 10 and 12 points, respectively, all career highs. Bryant was especially solid on defense, ending the game with five steals.
“Coach Moore always preaches about defense because he knows that we can score,” Bryant said. “Being aggressive on defense and offense, I think that makes a good player.”
Two other underclassmen, sophomore center Camille Hobby and redshirt freshman forward Elle Sutphin, both of whom will likely see an increase in minutes due to Boyd’s injury, played well. Hobby shot an efficient five for seven from the field for 12 points, and Sutphin ended the game with eight points. Last season, Hobby made just one 3 all year, but against Coastal, she went two for three from deep.
“Camille Hobby shot the ball extremely well today,” Moore said. “We know she can do that. We want her to continue to work on her defense and on her box outs and rebounding. Elle, I don’t think you all have seen the best part of her game yet. I don’t know what it is. She hasn’t settled in shooting the ball, shooting the 3 in particular the way she is capable of. Got to remember, again, she too is a freshman. She didn’t play a year ago… It was good to see Elle make some plays. I thought she made a couple of nice passes.”
The Wolfpack’s next game will be against Elon on Dec. 9. The opening tip is set for 7:15 p.m., and the game can be viewed on the ACC Network. Be sure to follow @TechSports on Twitter for live updates from the game as well.
