The NC State women’s basketball team went 2-1 in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro earlier this month, beating rivals UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke before falling to one-seed Louisville in the semifinals.
The Wolfpack (24-8, 11-5 ACC) made short work of the 12th-seeded Tar Heels, beating the Heels 77-64 before narrowly escaping four-seed Duke after almost squandering a 13-point halftime lead.
NC State almost proved up to the task of knocking off the then-No. 4 team in the country in the Louisville Cardinals. The Wolfpack took an 18-12 advantage into the second quarter before ultimately falling short at the hands of the Cardinals.
Here are four takeaways from the Wolfpack’s run in the ACC Tournament:
What’s left to say about Chelsea Nelson?
The Wolfpack’s senior forward was arguably the best player in the tournament this year, averaging 16 points and 12.7 rebounds per game, including a 22-rebound performance against Duke and a 20-point performance against Louisville in which Nelson consistently scored clutch bucket after clutch bucket to keep the Wolfpack in the game.
In the Wolfpack’s third-round game against Duke, Nelson grabbed more offensive rebounds herself than the entire Blue Devils team. Against a Louisville team that’s roster features the 2017-18 ACC Player of the Year in Asia Durr and the 2015-16 ACC Player of the Year in Myisha Hines-Allen, Nelson was the best player on the court, scoring a game-high 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting while grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.
Konig needs to avoid the “Jekyll and Hyde” acts
Sophomore guard Aislinn Konig is one of the best 3-point shooters in the ACC. Konig knocks down threes at a 35 percent clip. However, Konig is one of the most severely hot-and-cold shooters in recent memory.
In the Wolfpack’s second-round game against the Tar Heels, Konig was on fire, leading the Pack with 19 points on 5-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Konig was the only NC State player to hit more than one 3-pointer.
Then, Mr. Hyde showed up.
Against Duke and Louisville, Konig could not find her shot, shooting a combined 3 for 19 from the 3-point line. Konig hit just two of 12 threes against Duke and knocked down only one of her eight attempts against Louisville.
Of Konig’s 30 field goal attempts in the tournament, only four of them were from inside the arc. The Wolfpack will need her to find some consistency in the NCAA Tournament.
Wolfpack continues to excel at drawing fouls
All season long, free throws have been one of the Wolfpack’s biggest strengths and that continued in the ACC Tournament.
The Wolfpack shot 56 free throws over the course of three ACC games, knocking down 40 of them. Nelson, redshirt junior forward Kiara Leslie and redshirt sophomore guard Kaila Ealey each went to the line at least six times in one of the Wolfpack’s games.
If the Wolfpack is able to travel to the line almost 20 times per game in the NCAA Tournament and knock down its free throws at its 71.4 percent clip from the ACC Tournament, the Wolfpack could be looking at a deep run.
Is the Pack’s turnover problem solved?
In what was a season-long struggle, the Wolfpack turned the ball over 15 times per game in the regular season, essentially canceling out an excellent defense that forced an even 15 turnovers per game.
However, in the ACC Tournament, the Wolfpack turned the ball over just 29 times throughout the course of three games, good for fewer than 10 turnovers per game. Against UNC, the Wolfpack turned the ball over only five times.
NC State won the turnover battle in its two wins, with a plus-three turnover margin against UNC and a plus-five turnover margin against Duke. In NC State’s lone loss, the Wolfpack battled Louisville to a turnover draw, coughing the ball up 10 times and forcing the Cardinals to turn the ball over 10 times.
