NC State women’s basketball fell to Louisville 92-62. The loss at the KFC Yum! Center knocks the Pack out of contention for the ACC regular season conference title, but favorable results elsewhere do give the Wolfpack a double bye in the ACC Tournament.
The No. 10 Wolfpack (24-4, 11-4 ACC) struggled with the No. 2 Cardinals’ (26-2, 13-2 ACC) pressure and lights out shooting, lead by a 47-point effort from Louisville guard Asia Durr.
Graduate guard Kiara Leslie and freshman center Elissa Cunane led the Wolfpack with stat lines of 15 points and six rebounds, and 17 points and 10 rebounds respectively.
The game quickly got out of hand as pressure stymied NC State’s offense. Louisville raced out to a 15-6 lead thanks to three Wolfpack turnovers in the first four minutes, forcing a timeout from head coach Wes Moore.
The Cardinals didn’t let up, building a 36-13 first-quarter advantage thanks in large part to shooting 7 of 10 from three-point range. Durr scored 22 points in the first quarter on 8-of-11 shooting.
Tempers flared in the second quarter, first between Leslie and Louisville forward Bionca Dunham, who were issued double fouls for their roles in a spat. Minutes later, Wes Moore drew a technical foul for arguing a charge call.
The influx of emotion helped spark the Wolfpack offense, but despite closing the gap to 40-24, the Cardinals weathered the storm and returned with a 13-4 run to extend their lead to 53-28 at the half.
The second half was more of the same as the Cardinals’ shot 36 of 69, including 15 for 34 from three, for the contest. The Wolfpack offense could never get off the ground as NC State shot 38.2 percent from the field and had 14 turnovers to nine assists.
NC State has one game left in the regular season, a home matchup with No. 15 Miami on Sunday, March 3.
