It was only a month ago that No. 3 NC State women’s basketball fell to No. 16 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia in a heartbreaking 63-62 loss. All eyes were on the Wolfpack to perform in Raleigh when the Hokies came to town, but Virginia Tech completed the in-season sweep with a 72-61 win at a sold-out Reynolds Coliseum.
NC State (20-3, 8-3) was plagued by an off-night on the boards and lackluster shooting, while Virginia Tech (9-4, 10-2) kept firing 3-pointers left and right. The main stars keeping the red-and-white in the game were junior guard Aziaha James and senior guard Maddison Hayes who finished the night with 17 and 20 points, respectively.
“Yeah, again, gotta tip your hat to Virginia Tech,” said head coach Wes Moore. “You know, there’s a reason that they went to a Final Four last year. They just played with a lot of toughness, mentally and physically.”
The first sign of trouble for the Pack showed up in the first quarter when it was relying on offensive mistakes from the Hokies to stop them from scoring. A lack of tough defense allowed the visitors to go on runs throughout the period and take the lead.
NC State played with grit and toughness throughout the game, but James lit the crowd up in the first frame, scoring seven of the Pack’s first 11 points. Hayes and junior guard Saniya Rivers backed up James in the first half, getting rebounds and scoring a few points of their own.
Rebounds were the Wolfpack’s main trouble throughout the game. Coming into the bout, NC State averaged 44.5 rebounds per game — good for first in the ACC. However, the Pack totaled just 31 against the Hokies. On the other hand, Virginia Tech had the boards on lockdown with 24 rebounds in the first half and 48 at the final buzzer.
“Their bigs do a good job of getting positioned, riding you out and getting under you,” Moore said. “But also at some point you just gotta want to go get the ball, and that’s where I was disappointed. I thought at times, we didn’t compete hard enough. Our guards have to help us.”
James went into the second quarter with a scoring mindset, quickly racking up points in the paint and behind the arc. The Hokies matched every point though, quickly stripping any momentum from the red-and-white and its fans. NC State didn’t keep the defensive pressure on long enough and eventually finished the quarter with eight rebounds and shooting 35% from the field.
Heading into halftime, the Hokies led the Pack 37-33, and they quickly extended that lead in the first few minutes of the third quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers. NC State didn’t get back on the board until halfway through the frame, and just like before, Virginia Tech matched those points and then some.
The Wolfpack defense did step it up in the second half, even causing the shot clock to run out on the Hokies twice throughout the final two quarters. It wasn’t enough to stop the visiting offense — Virginia Tech worked the lead up to 10 points and didn’t look back. Three 3-pointers in two minutes dealt a big blow to the Pack, who headed into the final quarter down 57-44.
A lack of momentum caused NC State to play rushed and sloppy, making fundamental mistakes and giving the Hokies the ball. Despite Virginia Tech going on a scoring drought throughout the final quarter, the Pack didn’t crash the board well enough to get rebounds. A slight scoring drought at the end of the fourth brought the final score to 72-61.
“They were flying around,” Moore said. “They had 11 second-chance points, and we got beat by 11. So you’re kind of trying to neutralize that some.”
The season is far from over, with seven more games to go on NC State’s schedule. The Pack will travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers on Sunday, Feb. 11, at noon.
