Highlighted by ACC championship victories from both the men’s swim and dive team and dominance over UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State Athletics has completed another successful week of competition.
Women’s basketball struggles to find consistency
Ever since its impressive 11-1 start to the season, NC State women’s basketball has had immense difficulty stringing together multiple victories, particularly against ACC opponents. This week was no different as the Pack executed an awe-inspiring comeback win on Thursday, Feb. 16 against the North Carolina Tar Heels but then proceeded to lose to the Virginia Tech Hokies on Sunday, Feb. 19 for the second time this month.
In both games, sophomore guard Aziaha James was a standout player for the Wolfpack. Against the Tar Heels, she recorded 18 points, including the basket that sent the game into overtime. James thrived under pressure on Thursday night, scoring a combined 12 points in the fourth quarter and the extra session. The red-and-white outscored UNC 15-4 in overtime to secure the victory.
Against the Hokies, the sophomore earned her first career-start and notched a career-high 20 points, but that wasn’t enough to grant NC State the win. The Pack’s inability to adequately defend Virginia Tech’s very talented lineup and lack of a consistently productive offense ultimately led to the team’s 75-62 loss.
Read more about the Pack’s win over UNC.
Read more about NC State’s loss at Virginia Tech.
Track and field closes out regular season
NC State track and field traveled to compete in two meets this past weekend: the JDL Invitational and the VT Challenge. The women’s distance medley relay (DMR) team, composed of junior Katelyn Tuohy, senior Sam Bush and graduate students Savannah Shaw and Timara Chapman, traveled to the JDL DMR Invite in Winston-Salem, where they broke the NC State and the facility record for the event. Their time of 10:48.55 ranks second in the nation.
In Blacksburg, a number of NC State’s talented sprinters and throwers competed in the VT Challenge. On Friday, Feb. 17, the throwing squad captured three podium finishes. Junior Makala Wright and sophomore Sydney Freeman took second and third in the women’s weight throw, respectively. For the men’s team, freshman Nathan Lau took second place and set a new personal best in the weight throw with his mark of 17.15 meters.
Read more about the Pack’s performance at the JDL DMR Invite and the VT Challenge.
Gymnastics picks up four wins
NC State gymnastics competed in two meets this week, hosting the New Hampshire Wildcats in a dual-meet on Friday, Feb. 17 before traveling to Philadelphia on Sunday, Feb. 19 to compete against Temple, George Washington and Penn in a quad-meet.
Led by seniors Chloe Negrete and Emily Shepard, the Pack beat the Wildcats 196.150-195.650 and recorded a season-high score of 49.400 on the floor exercise. On Sunday, the Wolfpack built on Friday’s strong showing to emerge triumphant in a competitive pool and record a season-high road score of 196.450.
Read more about the Pack’s win over UNH.
Read more about NC State’s dominant performance at Temple.
Wrestling claims share of ACC Dual title
NC State wrestling had no trouble taking down its rival North Carolina in the last meet of the regular season on Friday, Feb. 17. The Pack won the match 28-6 and clinched its 10th consecutive win over the Tar Heels in the process.
Despite the meet being held in Chapel Hill, the majority of the crowd was made up of Wolfpack fans, making it even easier for a very talented red-and-white team to win eight of its 10 bouts. NC State’s only losses came at the hands of two of UNC’s four ranked athletes that competed in the match.
Read more about the Pack’s last regular season contest.
Swim and dive dominates at ACC Championships
It was an eventful weekend for the NC State swim and dive teams as both the men’s and women’s squads finished in the top-two at the ACC Championships. For the second year in a row, the men’s team captured the ACC title, beating the second-place team by over 600 points. The women’s team lost to a very skilled Virginia squad but still collected an impressive second place finish.
On the men’s side, senior Kacper Stokowski claimed his third straight conference title in the 100-yard backstroke in addition to two other top-five finishes. For the Wolfpack women, senior Katherine Berkoff was undeniably the standout in a very strong pool, claiming her fourth consecutive ACC title in the 100-yard backstroke.
Read more about the Wolfpack men’s squad’s dominant performance at the ACC Championships.
Read more about the NC State women’s impressive showing at the ACC Championships.
Men’s basketball loses on the road, defeats rival UNC at home
NC State men’s basketball had a rough start to the week, coming up just short against Syracuse on the road by a score of 75-72. Then, in what was arguably its most highly-anticipated game of the regular season, the Pack bounced back to defeat North Carolina at home 77-69.
Graduate guard Jarkel Joiner stole the show in both games, notching a triple-double against the Orange and 29 points against the Tar Heels. Joiner earned the honor of Co-ACC Player of the Week for his efforts. With the win over North Carolina, the Wolfpack has put itself in a good position as it looks towards the postseason.
Read more about the Pack’s loss at Syracuse.
Read more about the Pack’s thrilling win over UNC.
Softball splits four games in ACC/Big Ten Challenge
After a disheartening string of losses at the Candrea Classic last weekend, NC State softball won two of its four games against Big Ten opponents in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge that took place in Raleigh this past weekend. The Pack played two games each against the Purdue Boilermakers and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Against the Boilermakers, the Wolfpack lost 4-0 and won 4-3. Against the Hawkeyes, the red-and-white won 3-1 and lost 11-2.
Read more about the Pack’s showing in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Women’s tennis sweeps Wake Forest in ACC-opener
NC State women’s tennis went on the road this week to compete against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in its ACC-opener. The No. 10 Pack coasted through the match, winning every possible point to claim a 7-0 victory. A couple of the singles matches concluded with a tiebreaker, but the Wolfpack held strong and pulled out the win each time.
Read more about the Pack’s shutout win over Wake Forest.
Baseball crushes Wagner in three-game series
NC State baseball hosted the Wagner Seahawks in a three-game series this week, only letting up three runs the entire weekend to get off to a strong 3-0 start to the season.
With the exception of some inclement weather, Friday’s game was a cake-walk — the No. 21 Pack defeated the Seahawks 14-1 thanks to redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Logan Whitaker, who recorded three strikeouts and seven scoreless innings. The second game was much more competitive; the red-and-white came from behind to claim a 3-2 victory thanks to a strong seventh inning. In its final game of the weekend, NC State closed out the series in style, winning 9-0 to complete the sweep.
Read more about the Wolfpack’s season-opener against Wagner.
Read more about NC State’s series-clinching win over the Seahawks.
