Pack routs Virginia Tech in ACC home opener

The NC State women’s basketball team bested Virginia Tech by a score of 73-59 in a hard fought match Thursday night in Reynolds Coliseum.

The Wolfpack (10-5, 1-1 ACC) led at the break and did not relent in the second half, rolling to victory against the Hokies (9-7, 0-3 ACC) in the ACC home opener and earning a much-needed confidence boost after a tough loss to UNC-Chapel Hill earlier in the week.

After draining three quick buckets to take a commanding 7-2 lead, the Pack’s early run came to a halt, going on a five and a half minute scoring drought, digging itself a 15-7 hole. Sophomore guard Vanessa Panousis was on fire from the beyond the arc for the Hokies, going 3-for-5 and putting up nine points early as the Hokies’ leading scorer at the half.

“Panousis was the kind of player who could change a game,” NC State head coach Wes Moore said. “She can shoot the three from way out, and then if you take that away, she’s good off the dribble as well.”

However, the Pack was able to jump back in front with four minutes left in the half following two straight buckets from junior forward Carlee Schuhmacher to take a 24-23 lead.

The Pack maintained control for the rest of the half, entering the break with a 32-25 lead, after going on a dominant 14-2 run to close out the final seven minutes.

“Defense was the key to sparking that run, it always is,” redshirt sophomore guard Dominique Wilson said. “And keeping the momentum into the second half was very important in order for us to stay on top.”

At the break, sophomore guard Miah Spencer led the Pack with 13 points on 5-for-8 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. Wilson, the team’s leading scorer on the season averaging 13.7 points per game, followed closely behind with 10 points and three assists on 4-for-7 from the field.

“We did a good job defending for the most part,” Moore said. “However, there were some times where we just didn’t do the little things, and there are some things we need to work on in order to take away the easy buckets and make them hit the tough shots.”

Once the second half tipped off, the Pack didn’t give up the lead for the rest of the game. The teams went back and forth to start the period, but NC State establish a 51-41 lead midway through the second half and slowly but surely expanded its advantage to close out the game.

“I thought Spencer and Wilson had a great night, and Chelsea Nelson did a great job getting boards in the second half, being aggressive and taking care of the ball,” Moore said. “We don’t have a ton of depth due to the injuries of Chloe Jackson and Krystal Barrett, so hopefully we can come out with some energy against Clemson on Saturday.”

For the Pack, Wilson led the team with 24 points and added four rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block, shooting 8-for-12 from the field.

Spencer, the Packs’ next leading scorer on the season averaging 13.1 points per game, finished just after her, putting up 21 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal, shooting 7-for-14 from the field.

Freshman forward Chelsea Nelson and junior forward Ashley Eli led the team with six rebounds each, with Nelson garnering a team-high three offensive rebounds.

“It was very important to win our first ACC game, we needed to get our confidence back after a tough loss to UNC,” Spencer said. “We came back in practice and worked really hard on the things that didn’t work against UNC, defense, transitions, and the little things. This game really helped us, but we have another game Saturday and we have to put this game behind us and focus on that.”

“The margin for error is so small with this young team, so we have to keep working so we don’t make mistakes against these strong ACC teams,” Moore said.

The Pack plays Clemson in Reynolds Coliseum Saturday at 2 p.m. in its second straight ACC home game.