Over the weekend, NC State’s women’s basketball team traveled to Grand Bahama Island to participate in the Junkanoo Jam. The Pack started off with a 74-66 loss to George Washington, but rebounded strong in a 75-42 victory over Texas Tech.
According to its website, the Junkanoo Jam is an annual tournament that has been played since 2002. This marked the first time the Pack had participated in the tournament, which featured a handful of noteworthy opponents in ACC rival No. 22 Syracuse and local foes No. 1 South Carolina and East Carolina.
The tournament was split into the Freeport and Lucaya divisions. The Pack was placed in the Freeport Division with George Washington, Purdue and Texas Tech.
In its opener Friday against the George Washington Colonials, the Pack looked to bounce back from its first loss of the season Monday to Tulane, and quickly jumped to a 20-15 lead halfway through the first half. However, the Colonials fought back, finishing the half with a 30-22 lead over the Pack. The Pack shot a petty 27 percent from the field on 8-30 in the first half, slowing down after a quick start.
The Pack’s woes continued into the beginning of the second half, as the team faced a 16-point deficit near the midpoint of the second half. However, the Pack began to make a late push, going on a 19-7 run in a six-minute span to get back within eight points of the Colonials. Additionally, the Pack shot a much better 54 percent on 15-28 in the second half. However, it couldn’t close out the rest of the game, as the Colonials were able to get back on track and ultimately overcome the Pack with a 74-66 victory.
Redshirt sophomore guard Dominique Wilson ended the game with a career-high 21 points on 8-20 shooting, but was 0-8 from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Miah Spencer was next up with 18 points on 6-11 shooting, including a team-high 4-5 from beyond the arc, while playing in all but two minutes of the game. Sophomore forward Jennifer Mathurin finished with a double on 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
Having been eliminated from division title contention in its loss to the Colonials, the Pack looked to finish the tournament strong in a matchup against the Texas Tech Lady Raiders Saturday.
What the Pack lacked in its first match and needed to improve on were defense and perimeter shooting. It excelled in both of those categories against Texas Tech, shooting 5-8 from beyond the arc and allowing just 19 points in the first half that featured seven different scorers.
The Pack finished the game with a season-best 48 percent shooting on 28-58 from the field and 50 percent on 10-20 from beyond the arc, while holding the Lady Raiders to 42 total points with 34 percent shooting on 15-44. Since the Pack was able to jump out to such as quick and hefty lead, it was able to balance out the playing time much better than the first game, as no player was on the court for more than 30 minutes.
Dominique Wilson once again led the Pack in scoring, finishing with 16 points on 6-12 shooting. Senior guard Krystal Barrett was next on the score sheet with 13 points on 4-8 shooting, including 3-4 from beyond the arc. Redshirt senior guard Len’Nique Brown-Hoskin followed closely behind with 12 points, making all four of her three pointers in addition to tallying five rebounds.
In terms of the Junkanoo Jam, the George Washington Colonials won the Freeport Division in a 79-59 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers. In the Lucaya Division, the No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks triumphed from multiple double-digits deficits to beat the Syracuse Orange, 67-63.
After breaking even at the Junkanoo Jam, the Pack sits at 5-2 on the season and will come back home after a week vacation to take on Minnesota on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
