Nick Faulkner
Senior forward Chelsea Nelson goes up for a jumper early in the first quarter. Nelson had a monster day with an ACC record 22 rebounds to go along with 15 points, two assists, two blocks and a steal. The Pack struggled in the third quarter, but were able to hold the lead from the first quarter until the end of the game, coming away with a 51-45 nail biter over Duke on Friday, March 2 in Greensboro Coliseum.
On the back of senior forward Chelsea Nelson’s huge game, NC State knocked off No. 4 seed Duke, 51-45 on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.
The Wolfpack (24-7, 11-5 ACC) got its revenge on the Blue Devils (22-8, 11-5 ACC) after losing to them earlier in the season, 69-56.
After a back-and-forth first quarter saw the Wolfpack take a slim 15-14 lead into the second quarter, NC State used a dominant showing in the quarter to take a commanding 31-18 lead into halftime.
However, a disastrous third quarter almost proved fatal for the Wolfpack.
NC State was outscored 17-5 in the third quarter, almost blowing its lead due in large part to a 2-for-16 shooting performance. The Wolfpack was able to escape with a narrow 36-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
After trading buckets for most of the fourth quarter, two free throws from Duke guard Lexie Brown cut the Wolfpack lead to 45-43 with 2:23 left in the game.
A missed layup from redshirt junior guard Kiara Leslie on the ensuing possession led to a Duke rebound and timeout, with a chance to tie the game.
Duke missed its out-of-timeout shot, and two layups from Leslie pushed the Wolfpack lead to 49-43, icing the game for the Pack.
Duke guard Rebecca Greenwell drove into the lane for a layup to cut the lead to 49-45 with just 10 seconds to play, but two free throws from redshirt sophomore guard Kaila Ealey put the game away.
Nelson was a monster for the Wolfpack, scoring a team-high 15 points and grabbing a team-high and career-high 22 rebounds. In a game that featured a whopping 81 missed shots, Nelson dominated the boards from start to finish, nabbing nine offensive rebounds, helping the Pack to seven second-chance points.
Both teams were ice-cold shooting, with neither team able to crack the 30 percent mark from the field. The Wolfpack shot 29 percent from the field on 18 for 62 shooting, while the Blue Devils made only 14 of their 51 shots, on their way to 27 percent shooting.
3-point shooting was just as big a struggle for both teams. NC State connected on just 2 of its 17 attempts. Duke was only slightly better, knocking down 4 of its 18 shots from beyond the arc.
Turnovers proved to be key for the Wolfpack. Head coach Wes Moore’s hyper-aggressive defense forced the Blue Devils into 19 turnovers, converting those turnovers into 25 points.
The Wolfpack defense shut down the Blue Devils’ top two scoring options, Brown (20.3 points per game) and Greenwell (14.2 points per game). The star backcourt duo combined for just 29 points on 9 for 34 shooting.
Leslie was the only other member of the Pack to score in double figures, putting up 11 points on a woeful 3 for 15 shooting. Sophomore guard Aislinn Konig led the Wolfpack with five assists but was unusually off from the three point line, hitting only two of her 12 attempts.
Leslie and senior center Akela Maize were second on the team with six rebounds apiece.
In what was an extremely close game, the time of possession ended up misleadingly skewed. The Pack took the lead for the first time in the first quarter, thanks to a layup from Maize to make the score 7-6 with 6:28 left in the quarter. NC State never trailed again, leading the Blue Devils for the final 36 minutes and 28 seconds of the game, despite Duke consistently cutting NC State’s lead to one or two points.
The Wolfpack will now take on the winner of one-seed Louisville and nine-seed Virginia Tech. NC State lost to Louisville earlier in the season, 55-47, and dominated Virginia Tech, beating the Hokies 68-51.
NC State plays the winner of Louisville and Virginia Tech on Saturday at noon.