The NC State women’s basketball team beat rival UNC-Chapel Hill 66-53 Thursday evening at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill.
Coming off a nail-biting win over Syracuse on Sunday for head coach Wes Moore’s 100th win at NC State, the Wolfpack (15-5, 4-3) had a dominant 14-2 run to close out the third quarter that put North Carolina away for good after the Tar Heels (13-6, 3-3) briefly took the lead midway through the third.
A quick start by NC State followed by an 8-0 run from the Tar Heels saw UNC take a 10-8 lead to start the game. State sophomore guard Aislinn Konig hit a 3-pointer that gave the Wolfpack the lead and kickstarted a 10-0 run for the Wolfpack to end the first quarter with an 18-10 lead. That extended to a 13-2 run carrying over into the second quarter to give the team a 21-12 advantage.
The Wolfpack and Tar Heels traded buckets for most of the remainder of the second quarter. A 3-pointer from freshman guard Kai Crutchfield gave the Wolfpack a 28-19 lead but Paris Kea of UNC responded with a three of her own to cut the lead to 28-22.
A rejection from senior center Akela Maize on the defensive end led to layup in transition for redshirt sophomore Kaila Ealey to push the Wolfpack lead to 30-22. Janelle Bailey of UNC responded with a reverse layup to continue to back-and-forth of the last five minutes of the first half.
The first half closed out with a Crutchfield putback off of a 3-pointer from Ealey followed by an inbounds lob pass for the bucket from Kea with less than 10 seconds remaining to make the score 32-26 in favor of the Wolfpack heading into halftime.
The Tar Heels started off the second half on fire, scoring a quick seven points for a 33-32 lead and their first lead since the 4:41 mark of the first quarter. The teams then traded buckets for the next couple minutes until a Maize free throw tied the game up at 35.
After an Ealey three, North Carolina went on a 7-0 run to give UNC its biggest lead of the game, 42-38. Two free throws by Maize and an Ealey layup in transition halted the Tar Heel run and tied the game back up at 42-42.
A 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer by Ealey capped off a 14-2 Wolfpack run to give NC State a 52-44 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
NC State scored eight of the first 12 points in the fourth quarter to push its lead to a game-high 12 points before a Leah Church 3-pointer cut the Wolfpack lead to 60-51. The Tar Heels weren’t able to take advantage of three consecutive turnovers by the Wolfpack and a Konig layup pushed the NC State lead to 62-51.
A Kea mid-range jumper shrunk the Wolfpack lead to 62-53 and gave the Tar Heels faithful some hope but two straight buckets by the Pack pushed the score to 66-53 where it would remain for the final three minutes of the game as the teams traded turnovers and missed shots.
Ealey led the way for the Wolfpack with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go along with her seven rebounds and five assists. Maize chipped in 13 points and four rebounds for NC State, while Konig contributed 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Wolfpack shot 45 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line in addition to holding the Tar Heels to 33 percent shooting from the field and only 28 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
NC State returns to action on Jan. 25 on the road against Wake Forest.
