The No. 8 NC State women’s basketball team prolonged its best start in program history and remains the only unbeaten Division I women’s basketball team with a 66-38 victory over Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena Sunday.
The Wolfpack (17-0, 4-0 ACC) dominated the Cavaliers (7-10, 1-3 ACC) from start to finish, as the Pack never trailed in the contest to improve to 4-0 in ACC play, their best start in conference play since the 1999-2000 season.
It was announced before the game that the Pack would be without redshirt senior Armani Hawkins the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL she suffered on Jan. 10 against Pittsburgh. This is the third Wolfpack player to tear an ACL this season.
The Pack continues to battle through the adversity each game, as it had two players post double-doubles on the day. Junior Erika Cassell registered a career-high and game-high 15 points and 10 rebounds. Graduate Kiara Leslie added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Along with two players registering double-doubles, the Pack had four total players score in double figures with sophomore Kai Crutchfield tallying 11 points. Freshman Elissa Cunane also recorded 11 points, which all came in the second half.
The Pack’s defense and rebounding was effective all game long, forcing 17 Cavalier turnovers and collecting 48 rebounds.
In the first quarter, the Pack went on an early 9-0 run to grab an 11-2 lead with 5:56 left in the quarter. The team followed that up with a 15-3 run to start the second quarter and secure a 31-15 lead at the half. Cassell dominated in the opening half, shooting 5-7 from the field to lead all players after 20 minutes.
The final 20 minutes were similar to the first, with the Pack matching the first quarter total in the third with 16 to put the game out of reach before the final quarter of play began.
The team will now take a week off of game action before returning to Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies next Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
