NC State starts winning streak after defeating Louisville
NC State began Sunday’s road trip with a brilliant quarter offensively and ended it with one of its best defensive periods of the year, traveling to Louisville and defeating the Cardinals 63-51. Jada Boyd returned to the court and was huge for the Pack, scoring 15 points and grabbing 7 rebounds to lead the team in both categories.
Louisville did not make a field goal until the 1:37 mark in the fourth quarter, shooting 6.3 percent in the period and 30.3 percent overall.
NC State started the game scorching hot from the field, shooting 70 percent from the field in the first quarter, including a 4 for 5 mark from 3. Boyd came off the bench and hit a pair of jumpshots, including a three, in the opening frame. Diamond Johnson led the Pack with 6 points in the first quarter. She put on a passing display and recorded 6 assists overall behind some perfect outlet passes throughout the game.
Chrislyn Carr kept the Cardinals in the game, scoring 14 of the team’s first 16 points. She finished with 16 after shooting 2 for 8 the rest of the way. Saniya Rivers was huge defensively for the Wolfpack once again, helping shut down Louisville guard Hailey Van Lith, who averages 21 points-per-game. Van Lith shot 4 of 20 overall Sunday afternoon, and Rivers recorded 12 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds.
Louisville stormed back in the second quarter, outscoring NC State 20-12. The Wolfpack turned the ball over 6 times and only made 5 field goals. Mimi Collins scored 5 points in the quarter to go into halftime tied with Boyd in scoring with 7 points.
After a strong quarter that included 8 points off of NC State turnovers, the Cardinals held a 33-31 advantage going into halftime. Louisville dominated on the interior, grabbing 6 offensive rebounds and scoring 18 of its point in the pain. The Wolfpack still shot the ball well, finishing the first half 52 percent from the field and 50 percent from three.
Both teams struggled about equally to start the second half, with Louisville pulling ahead by as many as 4, but the Wolfpack battled back. A few tough three-point plays by Boyd and Rivers, who combined for 12 of the team’s 13 bench points in the period, led the Pack in the third period and helped the team take a 1-point advantage into the fourth, where the team dominated from there.
Collins, Boyd, Johnson and Rivers all scored in double figures, and four members of the Pack grabbed at least 5 rebounds, including Jakia Brown-Turner, who secured all of her boards in the final 10 minutes of the win.
NC State now takes a week off after improving to 5-4 in the ACC and 15-5 overall before a huge clash with No. 7 Notre Dame at Reynolds Coliseum set for Jan. 29 at 3 p.m..
