After defeating the No. 1 team in the country on Monday, the No. 4 NC State women’s basketball team fell to rival UNC-Chapel Hill 76-69 on the road Sunday, Feb. 7.
For a majority of the game, NC State (12-2, 7-2 ACC) struggled to put the ball in the basket, shooting just 39.4% from the field. However, it was the 3-point shooting of North Carolina (9-8, 4-8 ACC) that buried the Wolfpack. The Tar Heels made 11 from downtown while NC State made just four.
“Got to give North Carolina a lot of credit; they shot the ball really well from the 3-point line, in particular,” said NC State head coach Wes Moore. “They have a lot of talent on that team.”
Junior center Elissa Cunane led NC State in scoring, despite fouling out, with 14 points in 22 minutes. Senior forward Kayla Jones and sophomore forward Jada Boyd were also in double figures in scoring with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Alyssa Ustby led all scorers with 20 points for the Tar Heels.
In the first quarter, the Tar Heels relied on the 3-ball. North Carolina made three from behind the arc to give itself a 19-16 lead at the end of the first quarter. NC State struggled to take care of the ball, turning it over five times in the first 10 minutes of the game, and the Tar Heels scored seven early points off those turnovers.
Despite the early turnovers, the Wolfpack did do a good job of sharing the ball throughout the first half. On its first 11 made field goals, nine of them had an assist attached to it.
However, the Wolfpack struggled shooting-wise. NC State shot 33% from the field while North Carolina shot 50% in the first half. The Tar Heels made five of their last six shots in the second quarter to push their lead to 37-30 at halftime.
“We missed some easy shots at times, and I think that affected our energy some,” Moore said. “When the shots weren’t going, we just didn’t do as good a job defensively.”
The only NC State player who found any kind of rhythm offensively in the first 20 minutes was Cunane, who had 11 points at the break, including five from the free-throw line.
The offensive struggles continued for the Wolfpack out of halftime as NC State missed its first six shots of the half, including three layups.
North Carolina pushed its lead to 12 points early on in the third quarter as a result of the poor offensive performance from the Wolfpack. However a 13-0 run over three minutes quickly changed things, giving NC State a 45-44 lead late in the third quarter.
Senior guard Kai Crutchfield and Jones became focal points on offense as Cunane sat with three fouls. Crutchfield had seven points in the quarter while Jones had five of her own.
The Pack continued to play better in the final minutes of the third quarter, giving it a 52-49 lead going into the fourth quarter.
UNC-Chapel Hill hit three 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the last period to gain back the lead 61-56. Another 3-pointer with just over four minutes left in the game gave the Tar Heels a six-point lead. Cunane, who had four fouls, and Boyd entered the game to try and give one last run at the Tar Heels.
“It’s all about how the calls go,” Moore said. “And unfortunately, Elissa [Cunane] got the calls and got herself in foul trouble.”
Moore tried a full-court press, but the Tar Heels stood tall and answered every time the Wolfpack got it to within three or four points. Free throws at the end of the game clinched the game for North Carolina, giving it the 76-69 win.
“As you can see, the ACC has really good opponents,” Jones said. “Like I said, we just need to take it one game at a time.”
The Wolfpack will be back in action Thursday at Reynolds Coliseum to take on Clemson. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m., and the game will be streamed on Regional Sports Networks. Follow @TechSports on Twitter for live updates.
