The NC State women’s basketball team will be heading to New Jersey Thursday for a Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchup against Rutgers.

The Wolfpack (6-1) has had a good start to its season with only one loss to South Dakota State this past weekend. The Pack does have some things to clean up before facing the Scarlet Knights (5-2) based on its performance during the Fort Lauderdale Tournament over Thanksgiving break.

During the tournament, the Wolfpack found itself in foul trouble against Alabama and South Dakota. Four of the five players who faced foul trouble were starters senior Chelsea Nelson, redshirt sophomore Kaila Ealey and sophomores Aislinn Konig and Lucky Rudd. Redshirt junior Kiara Leslie also had three fouls during the Alabama game. In both games, Rudd fouled out while Ealey and Nelson both racked up four fouls against South Dakota.

The team will also have to watch the amount of turnovers that it allows, as 15 of South Dakota’s points were scored from turnovers. Shooting was a struggle for NC State against South Dakota as the Pack’s shooting percentage slipped from 42.6 percent against Alabama to 36.4 percent against South Dakota.

There isn’t much history between the Scarlet Knights and Wolfpack, but it will be an interesting matchup as the two teams have very similar records so far this season. It will also be a chance to see what the Wolfpack can do against a team that it has little experience against.

Against Rutgers, senior Akela Maize and Nelson will be looked at as the main scorers as the two have been consistent throughout the season and usually score in the double digits. Maize scored 20 and 10 points in the last two games while Nelson scored 18 and 14 points.

Maize and Nelson are not the only two members of the team who can score. Konig and Ealey stepped up as scorers during Thanksgiving break, with Konig scoring 32 points and Ealey scoring 19 points between the games against Alabama and South Dakota.

Defensively, Maize has had seven blocks in the past two games. Nelson had 21 rebounds in Fort Lauderdale, 13 being defensive rebounds.