The NC State women’s basketball team was off to a strong start this season with an overall record of 12-4, but during the past week has started to face off against ACC conference challengers and experienced some struggles. Out of the four ACC games so far, the Pack has only defeated Virginia Tech; falling to No. 3 Louisville, Virginia and No. 17 Duke.

Even though the deficits were nothing significant, they have still caused a crushing blow to the Pack’s efforts defensively, particularly against Louisville. While the Wolfpack held down the number of turnovers to seven against Louisville, the Pack’s pride in rebounds did not hold up against the highly-ranked Cardinals.

The Pack has out-rebounded its other three conference foes, but the Cardinals were a problem on the boards. The Cardinals defensively rebounded 36 times compared to the Pack’s 27 defensive boards.

While free throws were at 70 percent for the Pack, an improvement the team has been addressing, 3-pointers were not coming easily for the Wolfpack against the Cardinals, who held NC State to 13 percent from the perimeter.

The team’s strong starting perimeter shooters had a rough time hitting their shots. Redshirt junior Kiara Leslie only made one out of seven attempts from the 3-point line and sophomore Aislinn Konig also had one 3-point shot out of five attempts.

The team’s best free-throw shooting game was against Virginia Tech. The Pack shot 76 percent from the free-throw line, with all players making at least half their shots. Senior Chelsea Nelson led the team in free-throw shooting against the Hokies, shooting six of seven. The increase in ability to make free throws has been an improvement for State.

However, in the loss to Virginia, the Pack had 18 turnovers and shot 20 percent lower from the free-throw line than it did against Virginia Tech. Free throws were not the only shooting issue against the Cavaliers. It was a struggle to score from anywhere, as the top scorer for the Pack, redshirt junior Armani Hawkins, only managed 14 points.

The Wolfpack appears to still be finding balance among its players while trying to hone in on skills and cut down errors. If the Pack can find its way sooner rather than later, there are high hopes for the team. The Pack holds a lot of potential but has young players that lack the experience that is shown by the older players such as Nelson and Maize.