The No. 17 NC State women’s basketball defeated Anderson University 83-57 Thursday night in its only exhibition game of the season.
Although the Pack got its first win of the season, it suffered a major setback before the game even begun. Graduate guard Kaila Ealey suffered a non-contact knee injury early in October during practice and will miss the entire season.
“Ealey brings a lot of energy to our team,” head coach Wes Moore said. “Great defensive player, really sets up her teammates well and a great leader for us by example by how hard she plays and how vocal she is.”
Without Ealey running the offense the Wolfpack got off to a slow start, trailing 7-2 within the first two minutes, but offensive rebounding and 3-point shooting got the Pack back in.
After back-to-back 3’s by sophomore forward Erika Cassell and junior guard Aislinn Konig, the Wolfpack took a 10-7 lead and never looked back.
The Pack finished the first quarter out-rebounding the Trojans 17-8 and 8-0 on the offensive boards, while leading 21-16.
The Wolfpack distributed the ball well and had six different players score in the second quarter. Freshman center Elissa Cunane scored the first basket of her career on a post move in the lane, which is going to be a major key for the Pack moving forward. Cunane is tasked with taking over the void left by Akela Maize and Chelsea Nelson. The six-foot-five North Carolina native looked like a seasoned vet, using her footwork down low to draw the defense in and find her open teammates.
“We’re really going to count on [Cunane] with the loss of Chelsea Nelson and Akela Maize,” Moore said. “We have a big hole to fill there so she’s going to play a prominent role for us.”
The first half saw NC State play a bit sloppy, losing passes near half court and playing a bit undisciplined. Against a Division-II opponent like Anderson it’s easy to get away with this type of play, but the Wolfpack is going to have to tighten up for the ACC and even its next game against a Belmont team that won 31 games last season.
“I think that we were executing our offense, not fully, but we were driving and getting me and other people open,” Konig said.
The Trojans stayed close though and the Pack finished the half only up 37-29.
The third quarter was where the Wolfpack took advantage of its superior conditioning and dominated the play with a 30-point quarter. After Trojans guard Ace Easter knocked down a 3 to bring her team within seven, the Wolfpack got a 5-point possession after a Cunane layup on which she got fouled on, but missed the free throw which led to a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Grace Hunter.
“I thought Anderson was hard to guard especially Easter,” Moore said. “It felt more like Halloween and she was tricking us than Easter. Real proud, we came out in the second half put up 30 points in the third quarter.”
Easter proved to be quite the problem for the Pack, as she dropped 24 points while shooting 5 of 10 from beyond the arc.
But her heroics were not enough, as she was the only player on her team to score in double figures. The Wolfpack went on a 22-6 run to end the third and finish up by 21.
The final quarter saw Hunter and senior guard Armani Hawkins lead the Wolfpack to victory with Hunter knocking down four free throws and Hawkins scoring seven points.
“Thought we moved the ball better, we played a little bit harder, got the ball inside,” Moore said. “We gotta learn to play hard for 40 minutes if we’re gonna have success.”
The Pack will be back in action on Nov. 7 to take on the Belmont Bears in Reynolds Coliseum at 7 p.m.
Graduate guard Kiara Leslie attacks the basket against Anderson on Thursday, Nov. 1 at Reynolds Coliseum. Leslie recorded 7 points, five assists and 10 rebounds as the Wolfpack won 83-57.
