The NC State women’s basketball team won its second game in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown, beating host Hawaii 68-59 at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Wolfpack (7-0) is off to a good start to the weekend. After defeating Texas Friday, it dealt the Rainbow Wahine (3-4) its second loss in the tournament. For the first two quarters, the Wolfpack outscored Hawaii. The second half of the game saw a turn for the Pack. A back-and-forth third quarter led to the Wahine outscoring the Pack 21-20 in the frame when Hawaii forward Amy Atwell made a free throw with nine seconds left in the game.
The Rainbow Wahine was carried by guard Julissa Tago, who managed to score 23 points. The Wolfpack divided the work between senior guard Aislinn Konig and sophomore center Elissa Cunane, who each scored 22 points. For Konig, it was her second straight game with at least 22 points, as she scored 25 points in the win over Texas.
The Wolfpack is known to be strong in rebounding, and it held true tonight. NC State outrebounded the Rainbow Wahine 43-25, consistently using its size advantage in the paint. Hawaii was boxed out well by the Pack, as the Wahine only got three offensive rebounds. Limiting the Wahine’s second-chance opportunities served NC State well, especially as the Pack had more fouls and turnovers throughout the game.
NC State had a more even distribution between offensive and defensive rebounds than the Wahine. The Wolfpack hauled in 14 offensive rebounds and 29 defensive rebounds. Cunane corralled 11 of the 29 defensive rebounds.
Straying from a season-long trend of strong bench play, NC State only scored four points from the bench, all courtesy of freshman forward Jada Boyd.
Despite the second half of the game, where the Rainbow Wahine scored just as well as the Wolfpack, Hawaii was never able to close the gap to tie the score with NC State.
The Wolfpack will play its final game in the Aloha State this Sunday against North Texas at 5 p.m. The game will once again be on the court at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
