The No. 10 NC State women’s basketball team will host the Hampton University Pirates on Wednesday morning in front of 2,000-plus fifth graders from all over the area for its Education Day game.
The Wolfpack (8-0) is currently having its best start to a season since 1999-00 when it won 14 straight to begin the season. The Pirates (3-2), on the other hand, have been struggling to start the season, getting outscored by their opponents by an average of one point per game.
The Wolfpack has been led by a trio of upperclassmen who are all averaging double figures.
Redshirt junior guard Grace Hunter has been the driving force behind the Wolfpack’s attack all season long, averaging 16.1 points while shooting 53 percent from the field and 85 percent from the line, hitting almost three free throws per game.
Graduate guard Kiara Leslie has been dominant in the paint this season, already having three double-doubles, including a 17 point, 12 rebound effort in a four point win over Michigan State in the Cancun Challenge.
Junior guard Aislinn Konig has continued her excellent three-point shooting this season, extending her streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 41 games. Konig has struggled a bit with her shot, going a total 7 of 24 from the arc in games during the Cancun and Big Ten Challenges, but got back on track against Old Dominion where she hit 4 of 5 from long distance.
The Pirates meanwhile are led by freshman Laren VanArsdale, who averages 16.4 points while shooting 78 percent from the free-throw line. Her ability to draw fouls and get to the line will be key if Hampton wants to pull off the upset, but the length of the Wolfpack should create a plethora of problems for the 5-foot-3 guard.
Hampton only has one other double-digit scorer in junior guard Ashley Bates, who is shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc, averaging 14.8 points per game. Konig will be tasked with guarding the sharpshooter, and due to her own prowess for finding the 3-point arc should already have the knowledge necessary to slow her down.
The game is set to tip off at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday at Reynolds Coliseum.
