In the middle of a seven-game win streak, the NC State women’s basketball team travels to Florida Thursday to take on conference foe Miami.
The Wolfpack (19-5, 8-3 ACC) is coming off a 72-54 win over Boston College Sunday and is ranked No. 23 in the new AP Poll. The Hurricanes (16-7, 6-4 ACC) have won five of their last six games and are looking to bolster an NCAA tournament resume that includes two wins over ranked opponents in Duke and Kentucky.
Miami is led by forward Erykah Davenport and guard Mykea Gray who both average 12.1 points per game. Davenport is also the team’s leading rebounder, corralling 8.9 boards per game.
No one on the Hurricanes averages three or more assists per game, with guard Endia Banks leading the team with 2.9.
The Hurricanes are an extremely poor 3-point shooting team, shooting only 28.6 percent from beyond the arc this season. Not a single player on the Hurricanes is shooting over 35 percent from the 3-point line.
NC State’s excellent opportunistic defense will look to take advantage of a Miami team that turns the ball over 17.8 times per game. The Wolfpack forces 14.8 turnovers per game, and will look to turn Miami turnovers into points in transition.
The Wolfpack is led in scoring by senior forward Chelsea Nelson, who averages 12.5 points per game, and redshirt junior forward Kiara Leslie, who is putting up 12.4 points per game this year.
Nelson and Leslie also moonlight as the team’s leading rebounders, grabbing 9.4 and 6.2 boards per game, respectively. Redshirt sophomore guard Kaila Ealey is the team’s primary creator on offense, averaging 4.4 assists.
Leslie and sophomore guard Aislinn Konig have been excellent from behind the 3-point line this season. Leslie is shooting 35.8 percent from beyond the arc and Konig is hitting threes at a 36.2 percent clip on over seven attempts per game.
Konig and senior forward Akela Maize round out the double-digit scorers, with Konig scoring an even 10 points per game and Maize putting up 10.6 ppg.
The Wolfpack will look to continue an excellent stretch of defense it’s been playing during its winning streak. In the last seven games, the Wolfpack has only allowed opposing teams to score 53 points per game, and has only allowed more than 56 points in one game, an 82-68 win over Wake Forest on Jan. 25.
NC State will be hungry to continue climbing up both the AP Poll rankings and the ACC standings. The Wolfpack currently sits at fourth in the ACC, but is just half a game back of Virginia for third place.
The Wolfpack takes on Miami at the Watsco Center Thursday at 7 p.m.
