The No. 4 NC State women’s basketball team continued its winning streak Sunday, Dec. 20 with an impressive 78-47 home win against the Miami Hurricanes.
The Wolfpack’s performance comes after a quick turnaround, previously defeating Wake Forest on Thursday. The Pack (8-0, 3-0 ACC) was scheduled to play Duke Saturday, but after COVID-19 complications, the Pack managed to quickly grab a match against Miami (4-2, 1-2 ACC).
“Always as a coach you worry about this game,” said head coach Wes Moore. “You’re afraid of your players mentally having already left the building. They were here, they were focused. We came out and we set a tone early.”
The Wolfpack had no mercy for the Hurricanes, coming into the game strong hitting four out of its first five 3-pointers, with back-to-back snipes from sophomore wing Jakia Brown-Turner in the couple of minutes.
NC State’s strong performance never lost momentum, as the Pack entered halftime with a 32-point lead, its largest halftime lead of the season. The Wolfpack never took its foot off the gas as it powered through two more quarters to grab its 31-point victory.
Leading the Wolfpack to victory once again was junior center Elissa Cunane, totaling 18 points and seven rebounds. After the game, Moore called Cunane’s performance, “unbelievable again.”
“The guards just found me and made great passes to me,” Cunane said. “I did the same thing I do every week, just getting my shots up.”
Following close behind was senior guard Kai Crutchfield with an impressive 14 points for the day, while still trying to get back into the groove of things following an injury earlier in the season.
“I am really proud of Kai Crutchfield,” Moore said. “She filled up a stats sheet here, that’s what I have been trying to get through to her that she is capable of that.”
Sophomore forward Jada Boyd played for her second time since injury. She saw 12 minutes of play, and put up six points and nine rebounds for the Wolfpack.
“JB is a beast, she’s probably one of our best rebounders,” Cunane said. “She is just so athletic and probably one of our best defenders as well.”
Senior forward Kayla Jones and Brown-Turner also reached double digits for the Wolfpack with 10 points each. In such a high-scoring game for NC State, 11 players were able to get points on the board.
With an outstanding victory over Miami, NC State improves to 8-0 overall in the season as it will take an 11-day hiatus and return to ACC play after the holidays.
“Going into break, it is so important that we all stay safe and take all the safety precautions,” Cunane said. “Then when we get back we are ready to work again.”
NC State will return to action Thursday, Dec. 31 at 7 p.m. as it travels to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech.
Members of the N.C. State team locked arms during the national anthem before the Wolfpack’s game against Miami at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020.
