With January coming to a close, winter teams across campus moved further into ACC play and spring teams began to take to the courts. Many teams struggled this week — including men’s and women’s basketball, both splitting their games — but some teams came out on top against tough opponents.
Gymnastics defeats UNC-Chapel Hill in ACC matchup
NC State gymnastics traveled to Chapel Hill on Friday to take on the Tar Heels in the first ACC meet in 40 years. The Wolfpack defeated its in-state rival with a season-high score of 196.225-195.325 as the team dominated in almost every event.
Graduate student Chloe Negrete took the individual title on the floor and vault while freshman Katie Harper showed her talent by taking the individual title on the bars. The team’s highest-scoring event was the floor, scoring 49.200 for its best total of the season so far.
Finishing out the night on beam, four members of the red-and-white scored a 9.800 or above, rocketing the team past UNC. Now 1-0 in conference matchups, the team will take on Pittsburgh in its first home meet of the season on Friday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m.
Read more about NC State’s win over the Tar Heels.
Swim shows grit in tri-meet at Virginia
NC State swim and dive traveled to Virginia to take on the hosting Cavaliers and UNC-Chapel Hill in an ACC tri-meet Friday and Saturday. The No. 4 men’s squad defeated No. 18 Virginia and unranked UNC while the No. 8 women’s team fell to No. 1 Virginia but took down the No. 18 Tar Heels.
The men’s team established a new pool record in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of three minutes, 7.89 seconds, and multiple men took individual titles. Freshman Quintin McCarty took the title in the 50-yard freestyle, fifth-year senior Ross Dant in the 1000-yard freestyle, freshman Daniel Diehl in the 200-yard backstroke, senior James Plage in the 500-yard freestyle and graduate student Noah Bowers in the 200-yard butterfly.
On the women’s side there was a tougher battle, especially in taking on the No. 1 Cavaliers. The team was able to take home second place, highlighted by senior Abby Arens and sophomore Kennedy Noble earning a second-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard backstroke, respectively.
Read more about the Charlottesville tri-meet.
No. 7 women’s basketball falls in Miami, bounces back against Duke at home
No. 7 NC State women’s basketball put on two different performances this week. It first fell 73-59 to Miami in a poor shooting game where the Pack scored 20 points below its average. The Hurricanes outscored the red-and-white in the paint during the first half 24-8, and the Pack had a disastrous final quarter, making just three of its 12 shots and committing seven turnovers.
The team bounced back in a home match against Duke, defeating the Blue Devils 72-57. Junior guard Aziaha James took the lead for the Pack, finishing with a career-best 33 points, along with eight rebounds and two assists. Graduate forward Mimi Collins posted a double-double, and graduate center River Baldwin made her return to the court for the first time since suffering an injury Thursday, Jan. 4.
Read more about the Pack’s loss to Miami.
Read more about James’ high-scoring matchup against Duke.
Men’s basketball splits games against Wake Forest and Virginia Tech
In the most dramatic game of the season so far, NC State men’s basketball defeated Wake Forest 83-76 with a late-game comeback. Junior forward Ben Middlebrooks gave the Pack its momentum, scoring 12 points in the second half to push the red-and-white ahead of the Demon Deacons. Exhilarating ejections of head coach Kevin Keatts and junior forward Mohamed Diarra elevated the Wolfpack to play harder than ever before.
Despite the excitement of the Wake Forest win, the Pack couldn’t execute against Virginia Tech a few days later. After containing the electric Hokie guards in the first half, NC State was able to stay in the game, but quickly fell apart in the second half. Shooting 37.9% from the field in the final half, the Pack faded while VT excelled, finishing the home team off 84-78.
