No. 6 NC State women’s basketball lost in Reynolds Coliseum for the first time this season, falling 72-58 to the Duke Blue Devils on Thursday, Dec. 29.
Both the Wolfpack (11-2, 1-1 ACC) and the Blue Devils (12-1, 2-0 ACC) got off to slow starts, with both teams shooting below 30% from the field at the end of the first quarter. Duke was able to pull away due to elite 3-point shooting from guard Celeste Taylor and company, finishing 64.3% from deep and perfect from the free-throw line.
The Wolfpack had time to heal from injuries after an 11-day break, continuing conference play against Duke after defeating Clemson in its last outing. This game saw the return of senior forward Jada Boyd, who was eased back into the lineup after missing nearly a month of play. Junior guard Diamond Johnson, however, has yet to make a return.
At the end of a relatively flat first quarter, senior wing Jakia Brown-Turner hit a half-court buzzer beater to give the Pack a three-point lead along with some energy and momentum. The Blue Devils squad was unfazed by the crowd noise, however, and played very composed basketball even while the Wolfpack went on runs.
“We kept our composure when they went on runs to start the game,” said Duke head coach Kara Lawson. “Even during that big momentum shot by Jakia, and in the second half when they turned us over a couple times.”
Duke implemented a full court press from start to finish that had the Wolfpack flustered, resulting in 18 total turnovers from NC State. This forced the Pack to step up on defense to match its opponent. The NC State defense began to press in the second half and forced 17 total turnovers, but it was implemented too late in the game to affect the final result.
In addition to winning the turnover battle, Duke simply moved the ball better, totaling 15 assists to NC State’s five.
“They were able to get between us and the picks,” said head coach Wes Moore. “We weren’t able to get any good looks and settled for a lot of jump shots.”
This game would’ve been a pure defensive battle in the second half without the scoring of Taylor and NC State’s sophomore guard Aziaha James. James was one of the only Wolfpack players that could generate offense against a solid Duke defense — scoring 11 points in 26 minutes off the bench.
James soaked up a lot of minutes that junior guard Madison Hayes normally plays. Hayes started the game but only played 16 minutes after scoring a career-high 20 points in the previous game.
On the opposite side of the floor, Taylor poured in a game-high 23 points, shooting 5-6 from 3. Defending someone that gets hot from beyond the arc is a major challenge that the Wolfpack was not up for.
The red-and-white was able to cut the deficit down to five points with three and a half minutes to play but didn’t score again until there were only 53 seconds left in the game. Scoring droughts and an inability to close out on the perimeter are what ultimately lost the Pack this game.
NC State will travel to New York to face Syracuse on Sunday, Jan. 1 at 7 p.m. The Orange is undefeated at home, so it’ll be another tough conference challenge for the Wolfpack on New Year’s Day.
