The NC State women’s basketball team went 1-2 at the Paradise Jam this past week, defeating UTEP and falling to Kansas State and LSU while competing in the Island Division of the tournament.
The Wolfpack now holds a record of 5-2, with its only two losses of the year coming in the tournament.
In the first game Thursday, the Pack faced Kansas State and struggled to shoot the ball, going just 16 of 61 from the field and 9 of 36 from long range. The Wildcats dominated the game from the start and held the lead for 37 of 40 minutes on the way to a 67-50 win.
For the Wolfpack, seniors Jennifer Mathurin and Ashley Williams led the team in scoring with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Four Wildcat players ended up scoring double digits while the team never let NC State back into the game.
The Wildcats improved to a 4-0 record while the Wolfpack dropped its first game of the season and fell to 4-1.
In Friday’s game, the Pack came away with its fifth win of the season after handling UTEP by a score of 71-55, despite shooting only 6 of 24 from three-point range. The Wolfpack started slow in the first quarter and trailed by two going into the second quarter, but was able to regain form as it outscored the Miners in the final three quarters.
Senior Miah Spencer scored 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting while Mathurin added 14 points. Freshman Erika Cassell posted an impressive performance, going a perfect 3 of 3 from the field, scoring six points and also grabbing six rebounds.
The Miners dropped to 1-4 on the season while State improved to 5-1.
In the Paradise Jam finale for NC State, the team squared off against LSU, where it suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Tigers by a score of 59-58.
The Wolfpack led for over 30 minutes of the game, and even managed a 50-39 lead entering the fourth quarter, but the Tigers outscored the Pack in the final quarter, 20-8 to prevail. The Pack controlled the game early but faltered after struggling to score late in the game as the Tigers went on a late run to bring the game closer. LSU junior Raigyne Moncrief hit the go ahead three-pointer with just three seconds remaining after a Wolfpack missed free throw to put the Tigers up by one, where the score would ultimately remain.
Mathurin was once again a leader in scoring for the Pack, as she logged 18 points on 4-of-10 shooting, including four three pointers and a flawless 6 of 6 from the free throw line. She also led the team with four rebounds.
NC State fell to 5-2 while the Tigers improved their record to an identical 5-2. The Wolfpack finished in third place in its division.
Mathurin led the way for the Pack, posting 14.7 points per game for the tournament, while Spencer averaged 11.3 points per game.
The Wolfpack will look to get back on track against Indiana, when it faces the Hoosiers in Raleigh Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
