After dropping its final two games to top-10 opponents in an up-and-down season, the NC State women’s basketball team finds itself as the No. 10 seed in the ACC Tournament.
The Pack (16-13, 7-9 ACC) has been through a lot this season between graduating six players from last year and having four players suffer season-ending injuries. Despite the adversity, NC State has been able to compete with and even defeat some of the strongest teams in the conference, none bigger than the victory against then-No. 10 Duke on Feb. 22.
However, the adversity was enough to cause the Wolfpack to have to play on the first day of the ACC Tournament after earning a No. 4 seed and a double bye last March. On Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., NC State will take on Virginia Tech (10-19, 1-15 ACC) for the second time this season. The previous matchup, along with Virginia Tech’s unimpressive record, gives NC State a good chance to move to the second round.
The first time the two teams met, the Wolfpack dug itself a 15-7 hole, before hunting down the Hokies and dominating the rest of the game to win 73-59. However, VT sophomore guard Vanessa Panousis is a dynamic threat who averages a team-leading 13.1 points per game and can single handedly change the outcome of a game if overlooked, and one of the keys for NC State to win the game will be to slow her down.
With that said, the Pack’s ability to play well in the ACC Tournament lies in the hands of its three starting guards: redshirt senior Len’Nique Brown-Hoskin, redshirt sophomore Dominique Wilson and sophomore Miah Spencer. This tremendous trio leads the Wolfpack in points, but also has an impact in all other aspects of the game.
Brown-Hoskin has put up a very productive season as the Pack’s point guard, averaging 10.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game. She ranks in the top three of the team in each of those categories. Additionally, she leads the team in defensive rebounds with 117, despite being the shortest player of the team, standing at just 5-foot-5.
Wilson leads the team in scoring with 14.1 points per game and also averages 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Spencer also piles up the stat sheet with 13.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
Assuming it wins against Virginia Tech, the Pack will play Pittsburgh (19-10, 9-7 ACC) in the second round of the ACC Tournament. The first time these teams faced off, the Panthers staged a brilliant comeback on a 29-10 run in the final 12:38 to top NC State in a 60-50 victory.
If NC State wants to make it past that game, it will need to do two things: The first would be to slow down senior guard Brianna Kiesel, who averages 18.5 points per game and put on a show with 28 points in the first game against the Pack; the second would be to avoid scoring droughts like the one that effectively handed the victory to the Panthers Feb. 5 — NC State scored just 10 points in the final 12:38.
While the odds are against NC State, the team has a great chance to upset Pitt. The Pack’s guards have been playing at a high level, and the players still retain confidence after upset victories over Miami and Duke.
However, if the Pack beats the Panthers, it will play No. 7 Florida State (27-3, 14-2 ACC), the No. 2 seed team in the ACC Tournament. The ‘Noles have won 14 of their last 15 games, including a 72-52 thrashing against NC State Feb. 26. Given those two factors, it is very, very unlikely that the Wolfpack gets past Friday.
Looking beyond the ACC Tournament, the Pack’s record and conference placement will likely result in an NIT Tournament bid rather than a NCAA bid.
