The NC State women’s basketball team defeated the North Carolina A&T Aggies in the first round of the NCAA Tournament 79-58 behind an efficient day from behind the arc and 33 points off the bench.
NC State looked like it was in danger of suffering a 16-1 upset when the Aggies went up by as many as six points in the second quarter. However, NC State’s bench, led by the Co-Sixth Player of the Year, sophomore forward Jada Boyd, and freshman guard Genesis Bryant, allowed the Pack to go on a 13-0 run to take a 44-37 lead into the half.
“Jada Boyd’s done that for us all year,” said head coach Wes Moore. “Camille Hobby has as well some. But today, Jada Boyd gave us a big lift, coming in and scoring 18 points. And then [Bryant] having nine points herself, that’s a pretty good boost you’re getting from those players. It gives us some confidence moving forward in being able to go a little bit deeper on our bench, and feeling comfortable with it. It was good to see, obviously.”
Bryant’s appearance off the bench was intriguing, as she had seldom played as a true freshman this season. However, the guard’s five first-half points were integral to the team’s run that eventually won it the game. Bryant finished the game with nine points and three assists.
“It’s a great day when we all can come and share the ball,” Boyd said. “When we’re all doing what we’re supposed to do, we’re definitely going to come out with a win… I’m most proud of the people that came off the bench and stepped up in areas that we needed; they just worked so hard in practice, so them coming out and showing it, it makes me feel great.”
Moore got great contributions from his entire team, with six players scoring seven or more points. Senior guard Kai Crutchfield, junior center Elissa Cunane and sophomore wing Jakia Brown-Turner all hit double figures, scoring 14, 12 and 10 points, respectively.
In the second half, the Pack turned on the jets and looked like a completely different team than it did in the first. Boyd had a whopping 15 of her 18 points on the day in the second half, while shooting 7 for 7 from the floor.
“I thought Jada Boyd did a great job, gave us a great lift,” Moore said. “She does that a lot. She’s just so athletic and long. We were able to get the ball inside to her there a couple of times, and she did a really nice job of finishing. We needed a lift. We needed a bolt of energy, and I thought she really gave that to us.”
It took a while for the Wolfpack to get going in the first half, with the team only up by one point at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter had a nightmarish beginning, with the Pack falling behind 37-31 due to strong play from A&T’s Chanin Scott and Jayla Jones-Pack. Scott finished the game with 23 points and seven rebounds for the Aggies.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Moore said. “We didn’t have our energy. We didn’t have our mojo, so to speak. And we need to find that in a hurry. Part of it is that you have to give North Carolina A&T some credit. They came out and hit shots. We felt like they were so athletic and so explosive that we wanted to try to contain them and try to force them to shoot jump shots, and they made them. They knocked down a lot of good shots…Fortunately, we were able to get going in transition a little bit and see the ball go through the net a few times. Yeah, we’ve got to find it.”
However, the Pack turned its 13-0 run at the end of the first half into a 33-7 run through the end of the third quarter, with Boyd scoring 11 points in the period. Heading into the fourth with a 20-point lead, NC State was able to coast its way to the 79-58 win and give its younger players a chance to see action in the big dance.
It wasn’t all good news for the Pack though, as senior forward Kayla Jones suffered a leg injury that caused her to play just seven minutes in the contest.
“We’ve got a doctor with us, traveling with us, and they said they’ll probably get an MRI tonight and see what it is, what’s going on in there,” Moore said. “We don’t think it’s an ACL or anything like that, but obviously, it’s really tender and all those things. Hopefully, we can get some ice on it, and she’ll feel better, tonight or tomorrow or whatever. Obviously, she’s a big part of what we do and a great leader for us. We won’t know until we get that later tonight.”
Next up, NC State will take on the winner of tonight’s contest between Washington State and South Florida on Tuesday, March 23 in the second round.
