Coming off an impressive 3-1 stretch to open conference play, the No. 23 NC State women’s basketball team will take on the No. 12 Duke Blue Devils Sunday at Reynolds Coliseum.
The Wolfpack (13-4, 3-1 ACC) defeated No. 2 Notre Dame in its first conference matchup, then traveled to Tallahassee and topped No. 6 Florida State. Since then, the team dropped a close game to No. 14 Miami but rebounded with a win over Wake Forest. This marks the third time in four seasons that the Wolfpack has started 3-1 in ACC play.
The Blue Devils (14-2, 2-1 ACC) are coming off a blowout loss at Florida State, but still own a solid record in the early going of conference play.
The Wolfpack can attribute much of its early-season success to the play of senior guard Miah Spencer, who is averaging 10.8 points per game while also shooting an above average 52 percent from the field and starting all 17 games thus far. Spencer has also been the team’s ball distributor with a team-high 77 assists.
NC State will also rely on junior forward Chelsea Nelson, who is the Pack’s leading scorer with 11.3 points per game on 50 percent shooting while also averaging 6.2 rebounds per game. The Blue Devils will need to keep Nelson and Spencer and check if they want to pull off a tough road conference win at Reynolds, where the Wolfpack has only lost once this season.
If NC State were to pull off the upset, it will need to find a way to stop Duke’s excellent guard play, led by juniors Rebecca Greenwell and Lexie Brown. Greenwell is averaging 17.8 points per game while Brown has logged 17.4 points per game this season. Greenwell is Duke’s leading 3-point shooter as well, shooting 41 percent from beyond the arc and tallying 43 three-pointers this season. No other Blue Devil players are averaging double figures, so the main challenge for the Wolfpack defense will be stopping the high-scoring duo in the Blue Devils backcourt.
For the Wolfpack, a win against Duke would add to an already solid NCAA Tournament resume. The Wolfpack narrowly missed out on a bid to the dance last year, but the team has already posted solid wins against Notre Dame and Florida State in conference. If the team continues at its current pace, it should find itself securely in the field of 64 come March.
Pending the outcome of the upcoming game against Syracuse on the road Thursday at 7 p.m., the Wolfpack could be among the top teams in the ACC at the end of the weekend. The game is set to tip off Sunday at 3 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum.
