Coming off a disappointing road loss over the weekend to in-state rival UNC-Chapel Hill, the No. 19 NC State women’s basketball team will face a tough task as it travels to Kentucky to take on No. 9 Louisville Thursday in a conference matchup.
The Wolfpack (16-6, 6-3 ACC) is looking to pick up its fourth win this season while facing ranked opponents. The team has already beaten Notre Dame, Florida State and Duke, all of which were ranked at the time. The Cardinals (20-4, 7-2 ACC) find themselves in third place in the conference and are currently on a five-game win streak, with their last loss coming against an excellent Florida State team dating all the way back to Jan. 12.
For the Pack, a win would tie it with the Cardinals for third place in the ACC and separate the team from the middle of the conference and put it in a solid position in terms of NCAA Tournament seeding after missing out on the dance last year.
Shooting was an issue in the Pack’s loss to UNC, as senior guard Miah Spencer scored 15 points against the Tar Heels, but shot just 31 percent from the floor, well below her season average of 47 percent. Redshirt senior Dominique Wilson led the team with 18 points, but shot only 35 percent.
State will need to keep the advantage in the paint as well. Against UNC, the Pack logged 28 points to the Tar Heels’ 16 inside the paint, and hope to keep that going against the Cardinals, who have a strong inside presence of their own in Myisha Hines-Allen. The 6-foot-2 sophomore is averaging 13.3 points per game on 49 percent shooting and is shooting 73 percent from the free-throw line.
Another scoring threat for Louisville is sophomore guard Asia Durr, who is averaging a team-high 16.7 points per game while also leading the team in 3-point percentage, connecting on 40 percent from beyond the arc on 189 3-point shots. The Pack will need to shut her down if it wants to pull the upset.
Luckily for State, it has excellent guard play of its own. Spencer has a team-high 107 assists on the season and is also averaging 10.7 points per game in her final season with the Wolfpack. Senior Ashley Williams has also provided valuable minutes while being a reliable ball handler and passer.
The Pack will need to get junior forward and leading scorer Chelsea Nelson more involved in the paint as well. Nelson added 11 points against UNC on 5-of-9 shooting, right in line with her season average of 11.6, but look for Spencer and the other guards to get her more involved against a tough Louisville squad.
Improved shooting and more looks down low should help the Pack, but a win against Louisville is always a tough task. The Cardinals have only fallen to ranked teams on the season, including Duke and Florida State in conference. Fortunately for the Wolfpack, it remains ranked this week after a win over Pitt last week.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. The game will air on ACC Network Extra.
