Behind an electric first-half performance from sophomore guard Diamond Johnson, No. 5 NC State women’s basketball battered undefeated Towson 100-52 on Monday, Nov. 15 in Reynolds Coliseum.

After a couple of solid performances in the Wolfpack’s (3-1) first two games of the Preseason WNIT, Johnson went off against the Tigers (3-1). The transfer from Rutgers scored 16, 14 of which came in the first half, as she and the other main rotation players played limited minutes as the game wore on.

“I’m starting to get more comfortable adjusting to the new program,” Johnson said. “I’ve also been watching a lot of film, so I pretty much know when I’m going to get my shots, where my teammates are going to set me up to get my shots. Just being in the gym and just being consistent and staying positive.”

Senior center Elissa Cunane (15 points), junior wing Jakia Brown-Turner (13), junior center Camille Hobby (12) and graduate guard Raina Perez (11) all joined Johnson with double-digit scoring performances. The only member of the Pack to see the court and not record a point was graduate forward Kayla Jones, who played just five minutes.

Head coach Wes Moore said after the game that Jones will be up and down this season, adding that her knee feels better on some days than others. Moore said that her knee was bothering her a bit today, and there was no reason to risk her with the game going well.

Sophomore guard Madison Hayes may not have scored in the double digits, but she made her presence felt in other ways as she reeled in 12 rebounds and dished out six assists, both of which were career highs and led the team.

“She’s really active,” Hobby said. “She works really hard. When you work hard and you have a great attitude, crash the boards really hard, you’re going to get rebounds and that’s what she does, honestly.”

After starting the season with a loss to the No. 1 team in the country, the Wolfpack has taken care of business in convincing fashion and built some key momentum heading into the bulk of its tough nonconference schedule.

“I felt like leading up to the South Carolina game, our practices weren’t as good as they had been maybe a few weeks ago,” Moore said. “And so that was frustrating to me. And, you know what they say, ‘If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.’ Well, I guess I’m mama. I probably wasn’t real fun to be around, but the last couple of games, they’ve allowed me to have a little more fun and maybe be a little more positive around them because we’re doing some things well.”

The game was the Pack’s third straight of scoring 85 or more points, its longest streak since 2013.

NC State’s dominance started early and the Pack never looked back, starting the first quarter on a 7-0 run and ending it on a 17-1 run to take a 26-5 lead. Johnson led the way for the Pack, scoring seven on 3 for 4 shooting in five minutes of action.

“It’s pretty nice when you can bring Diamond Johnson in to give you a spark, and she can give you more than a spark,” Moore said. “She gives you a forest fire out there.”

The Wolfpack found a lot of success in transition, including a smooth bounce pass from Kayla Jones that led to an and-one from graduate guard Kai Crutchfield.

“We’re wanting to be up tempo and running,” Moore said. “I think we did a pretty good job of that, because Towson is a team that really excels in transition. Fast break points 19-6 against a team that really runs well is good. I thought we did a nice job there.”

Johnson continued her impressive play into the second quarter, but it was the bigs who showed out most in the quarter as the Pack took a 50-20 lead into halftime.

Cunane and Hobby combined for 15 second-quarter points. Hobby was especially impressive, showing off a nice turn around jumper in the paint early in the quarter.

“She works her tail off, and when we need her, she always steps up and does a great job,” Moore said. “Like I said, in this age of transfer portals and everything else, she’s been very loyal to the program and just kept working hard. Just like last year, we had Elissa out with COVID and Camille I think scored 19 in the start at Virginia Tech, so it’s a great luxury to have two players of that caliber at that position.”

The Pack was also excellent on the defensive end, holding Towson to 7 of 37 from the field and 2 of 18 from beyond the arch. The Tigers managed to find their rhythm late in the half but the Wolfpack put any distant hopes of a comeback completely out of the question with a 14-0 run at the start of the third quarter.

Perez led the third quarter onslaught for the Pack, raining down a trio of 3s early on. Brown-Turner also got in on the 3-point barrage with a pair of her own in the quarter.

Towson managed to find its feet slightly scoring-wise, but just had no answer for anyone on the Wolfpack as it pushed the score out to 78-31 by the end of the quarter

With a large lead and the win easily in hand, Moore sat the most main rotation players in the fourth quarter and let some of the young guns get some minutes.

Sophomore guard Genesis Bryant, freshman guard Aziah James, Hayes, freshman guard Jessica Timmons and freshman center Sophie Hart got the bulk of those minutes, and narrowly outscored Towson 22-21 in the quarter.

Timmons drilled a 3 in the final minute of the game to give the Wolfpack an even 100 and the crowd — and the Wolfpack bench — exploded in cheers.

The Pack will wrap up its action in the Preseason WNIT on Friday, Nov. 19 as it takes on Kansas State at 7 p.m.