NC State women’s basketball knows how to run up a big margin in a small gym.



In a much-hyped showdown between No. 5 NC State and undefeated rival and No. 19 North Carolina, the game proved to be no contest. 



The Pack crushed the Heels, 72-45.



NC State improved to 13-2 overall and 4-0 in the ACC.



The Wolfpack jumped out to a 10-0 lead on the Heels, and it took UNC over five minutes before it finally scored. When junior NC State guard Jakia Brown-Turner added a layup to put the Pack up 12-2 with 4:32 left in the first quarter, the lead never shrunk into single digits for the remaining 33-plus minutes of the contest.



NC State led by at least 20 points for the final 13-plus minutes of the contest.



The dominant performance came days after UNC head coach Courtney Barnhart’s puzzling answer to a question asking about playing in the environment of a sold-out Reynolds Coliseum by beginning her response with first pointing out it’s a smaller venue.



However, the team that calls Reynolds home offered what was by far UNC’s stiffest challenge of the season. The Heels had won its first 13 games of the season without playing a single team ranked in the top 50 of the current NCAA NET ratings, and only four of the 13 were in the top 100. Half of those were recent ACC contests at Boston College and against Clemson.



The Wolfpack by contrast played six non-conference teams that are in the top 20 of the NET and three more in the top 100.



The experience of the older and more battle-tested NC State showed up. UNC shot just 23.8 percent from the field (15 of 65) while the Pack drilled 11 three-pointers and outrebounded the Heels, 53-40.



NC State outscored UNC in every stanza except the second when both teams had 16 points. NC State led 24-7 at the end of the first quarter and eventually stretched the lead to a game-high 29 points.



Senior center Ellissa Cunane led the way with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including going 3 of 4 on threes, and 13 rebounds for the double-double. Five more players had at least seven points in a balanced effort for the Wolfpack.



With the victory, NC State women’s basketball became the first program to reach 400 ACC wins in the conference.



The Wolfpack is scheduled to hit the road Sunday at No. 20 Notre Dame for a 2 p.m. tipoff on ACC Network.  



——



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