NC State women’s basketball defeated UNC-Chapel Hill 77-64 in the second round of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro on Thursday.
The Pack (23-7, 11-5 ACC) dominated UNC (15-16, 4-12 ACC) in the paint, outscoring the Tar Heels 36-18 and only turning the ball over five times. NC State shared the ball effectively, with four players in double-digit points.
“I think this year, that’s been a point of emphasis to get post touches,” head coach Wes Moore said. “I just feel like it’s kind of like football. You have to have a running game to setup your passing game, and I think when you get the ball inside and score, or get to the free-throw line, I think it makes a big difference.”
The Tar Heels came out firing in the first quarter. Guard Paris Kea started 3 for 3 on 3-pointers, putting UNC up 11-3 early. Kea would be the biggest offensive threat for the Heels all afternoon.
For the Pack, senior forward Chelsea Nelson was called for two fouls in the first two minutes. She is averaging 13.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. With Nelson on the bench, other players had to step up.
Redshirt junior guard Kiara Leslie and sophomore forward Erika Cassell stepped up for the Pack, scoring a combined 13 points in the first quarter, giving NC State a 22-16 lead. Cassell had only six points in the game, but led the team with 10 rebounds.
After being down 11-3, NC State went on a 26-8 run into the second quarter to go up 29-19. The Pack would hold that lead to halftime, up 43-37. At the half, sophomore guard Aislinn Konig and senior center Akela Maize led the Pack with 10 points apiece. Konig finished with a team high 19 points with five 3-pointers.
“When the post players are drawing the defense in,” Konig said. “It really makes the other team have to collapse in and help defend the post, which opens up threes, and then once we get into rhythm, I think it comes a little bit easier from the outside, as well.”
There was more foul trouble for State in the third quarter, when Leslie picked up her fourth foul. She finished with 13 points. Both teams struggled in the quarter with NC State shooting 31.3 percent, while UNC shot just 28.6 percent.
Nelson was able to get back out on the floor for most of the second half. She was very involved during that time, scoring 13 points and seven rebounds.
State stretched the lead a little in the third quarter, leading 61-52 entering the final frame . The fourth quarter consisted of really good defense by both teams. The Pack scored the first six points of the quarter, but then didn’t score for five minutes.
Luckily for State, the Tar Heels weren’t having any success either. A huge part of that was State’s ability to shut down Kea in the second half. She scored only six points after the break, bringing her total to 27.
“We started doing a little bit better job defending her,” Moore said. “We were able to hit some shots ourselves. We started out kind of slow and again, this team has a lot of character and the keep battling and they did that today.”
NC State will move on to face No. 18 Duke on Friday at 11 a.m. in Greensboro. Duke defeated NC State 69-56 in their only meeting this year.
Redshirt junior Kiara Leslie and redshirt sophomore Kaila Ealey smile as they run back to the locker room after the 77-64 win over UNC-CH in the Greensboro Coliseum on Thursday, March 1 to head to the quarter finals of the ACC tournament.
