Thursday, December 28
Blacksburg, VA
2:30PM
NC State
12-2, 1-0ACC
68
at
51
--/#32 Virginia Tech
11-3, 0-1ACC
1
2
3
4
F
NC State
12
18
18
20
68
Virginia Tech
13
9
11
18
51
Rebounding Dominance, Defense Key Pack to Win in ACC Opener
12/28/2017 5:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Wolfpack goes +25 (56-31) on the glass in win at Virginia Tech
December 28, 2017
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Led by a dominant rebounding performance and a strong defensive effort, the NC State women's basketball team (12-2, 1-0 ACC) cruised to a 68-51 win at Virginia Tech Thursday afternoon to open Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Four Wolfpack players scored in double figures during the victory. Chelsea Nelson led all scorers with 18 points while teammates Akela Maize (14 points, 11 rebounds), Kiara Leslie (14 points), and Aislinn Konig (11) also had strong offensive games. Nelson scored 10+ points for the 11th consecutive game while classmate Maize recorded the first double-double of her career. Sophomore Erika Cassell led all players with a career high 14 rebounds. She doubled the rebounding total (7) of Virginia Tech's best rebounder of the afternoon.
The win furthers NC State's dominance in the all-time series between the teams, improving the Wolfpack to 18-1 in 19 meetings with the Hokies. NC State is now 9-0 in all meetings played in Blacksburg.
"I'm really proud of our kids," NC State head coach Wes Moore said in his postgame radio interview with broadcaster Patrick Kinas. "Virginia Tech is a good team. They were 11-2 coming in and we're on the road. I'm just really proud of the way our kids executed. They did a very nice job with the scout. We took away the strengths of certain people and just gutted it out on the road."
Trailing 13-12 through the game's first 10 minutes, NC State outscored the Hokies 18-9 in the second quarter to take a 30-22 edge into the halftime break. The Wolfpack shot 6-15 (.400) from the field during the second quarter while limiting Virginia Tech to a 4-18 (.222) success rate. Nelson had an especially strong second quarter, scoring all eight of her first-half points during this stretch.
NC State hit just one more shot than Virginia Tech in the third quarter (6-15 compared to 5-15), but connected on two three-pointers and went a solid 4-5 from the free throw line to extend its lead to 15 points (48-33) as the teams entered the final 10 minutes of the game.
Virginia Tech trimmed the Wolfpack's lead to 12 points early in the fourth quarter, but the Wolfpack would allow the Hokies no closer throughout the rest of the game. Holding a 60-46 lead with 4:10 remaining, NC State put the result of the game beyond doubt with a 6-0 run to make it 66-46 with just 1:50 to play.
NC State opens the home portion of its ACC schedule in Raleigh on Sunday, Dec. 31 when No. 3/4 Louisville comes to town. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. from inside Reynolds Coliseum with live television coverage provided by the ACC's Regional Sports Network affiliates.
#GoPack | @PackWomensBball
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Led by a dominant rebounding performance and a strong defensive effort, the NC State women's basketball team (12-2, 1-0 ACC) cruised to a 68-51 win at Virginia Tech Thursday afternoon to open Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Four Wolfpack players scored in double figures during the victory. Chelsea Nelson led all scorers with 18 points while teammates Akela Maize (14 points, 11 rebounds), Kiara Leslie (14 points), and Aislinn Konig (11) also had strong offensive games. Nelson scored 10+ points for the 11th consecutive game while classmate Maize recorded the first double-double of her career. Sophomore Erika Cassell led all players with a career high 14 rebounds. She doubled the rebounding total (7) of Virginia Tech's best rebounder of the afternoon.
The win furthers NC State's dominance in the all-time series between the teams, improving the Wolfpack to 18-1 in 19 meetings with the Hokies. NC State is now 9-0 in all meetings played in Blacksburg.
"I'm really proud of our kids," NC State head coach Wes Moore said in his postgame radio interview with broadcaster Patrick Kinas. "Virginia Tech is a good team. They were 11-2 coming in and we're on the road. I'm just really proud of the way our kids executed. They did a very nice job with the scout. We took away the strengths of certain people and just gutted it out on the road."
Trailing 13-12 through the game's first 10 minutes, NC State outscored the Hokies 18-9 in the second quarter to take a 30-22 edge into the halftime break. The Wolfpack shot 6-15 (.400) from the field during the second quarter while limiting Virginia Tech to a 4-18 (.222) success rate. Nelson had an especially strong second quarter, scoring all eight of her first-half points during this stretch.
NC State hit just one more shot than Virginia Tech in the third quarter (6-15 compared to 5-15), but connected on two three-pointers and went a solid 4-5 from the free throw line to extend its lead to 15 points (48-33) as the teams entered the final 10 minutes of the game.
Virginia Tech trimmed the Wolfpack's lead to 12 points early in the fourth quarter, but the Wolfpack would allow the Hokies no closer throughout the rest of the game. Holding a 60-46 lead with 4:10 remaining, NC State put the result of the game beyond doubt with a 6-0 run to make it 66-46 with just 1:50 to play.
NC State opens the home portion of its ACC schedule in Raleigh on Sunday, Dec. 31 when No. 3/4 Louisville comes to town. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. from inside Reynolds Coliseum with live television coverage provided by the ACC's Regional Sports Network affiliates.
#GoPack | @PackWomensBball
Team Stats
ST
VT
FG%
.393
.292
3FG%
.333
.167
FT%
.762
.529
RB
56
31
TO
18
9
STL
3
10
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's BasketballCenter
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