Wolfpack Juices Orange for Moore's 100th Win at NC State

Sunday, January 14

Raleigh

2PM

NC State

14-5, 3-3

#29/26 Syracuse

14-4, 2-3

Syracuse

NC State

Wolfpack Juices Orange for Moore's 100th Win at NC State

1/14/2018 4:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score @PackWomensBball

NC State earns 350th ACC win in program history, becoming just fourth program to do so

January 14, 2018

RALEIGH – The NC State women's basketball team (14-5, 3-3 ACC) earned a gutsy 60-56 win over Syracuse (14-4, 2-3 ACC) Sunday afternoon inside Reynolds Coliseum to give head coach Wes Moore the 100th victory of his Wolfpack career. In a game that saw 12 lead changes and was tied on seven occasions, NC State never trailed by more than four points, and the team did not relinquish its lead during the final 5:44.

Chelsea Nelson notched her third consecutive double-double, tallying 11 points and 12 rebounds. Kaila Ealey and Akela Maize also put up 11 apiece. Ealey played a very judicious 34 minutes in her point guard role, dishing out four assists against just one turnover while shooting 3-5 from the field and grabbing eight rebounds.

Syracuse was led by Tiana Mangakahia, who led all players on the court with 16 points, and Gabrielle Cooper, who recorded 11. Mangakahia was held to just five assists against seven turnovers, effectively halving her season average of 10.4 assists per game.

Postgame Notes
- NC State's win swung the series 5-4 in favor of the Wolfpack and snapped Syracuse's four-game win streak against the Wolfpack.
- NC State improved to 10-2 in Reynolds Coliseum this season.
- Despite the number of lead changes, NC State held its lead for 27:32, while Syracuse only led for 7:40. The game was tied for 4:40.
- The Wolfpack dominated in the paint and on the glass, outscoring the Orange 30-14 down low and winning the rebound battle by a 46-31 count.
- NC State posted 15 second chance points off of 15 offensive rebounds and did not give up any second chance points to Syracuse.
-Syracuse entered the game receiving votes to rank 29th (AP) and 26th (USA Today) in the national polls and was sitting 18th in the RPI.

"I'm just really proud of our team today," NC State head coach Wes Moore said in his postgame press conference. "(I'm proud of) everyone, but (I'm proud of) Kaila Ealey in particular (with) one turnover against their press. Syracuse does a great job with their press and falling back into zone defense and really mixing it up a lot. We put a lot of pressure on our point guard against presses. We really want them to try to handle the ball, and she really grew up today. I'm real proud of her and the job she did, even defensively as well. The whole team did a really good job on the boards. I thought that was critical, and I thought they knew the strengths of Syracuse and did a pretty good job of trying to slow them down. Like I said, (it was) a great team effort. I thought DD Rogers' free throws and then the blocked shot down there were big. Again, I'm real proud of them."

After a back-and-forth first quarter, NC State held a five-point advantage (22-17) after the opening period of play. Konig boosted the Wolfpack with two triples, and Nelson knocked down five free throws to help NC State build the lead.

The Wolfpack's momentum carried into the early stages of the second quarter. From 1:07 left in the first quarter to the 7:50 mark in the second quarter, NC State went on a 12-2 run to establish its largest lead of the day (28-19).

The Orange took advantage of an 8-0 run to claw back to within one (28-27) and went on to hit a three with 1:39 remaining in the first half to take a 33-30 lead, its first since there was 1:07 left in the first quarter. Syracuse led 33-32 at halftime.

The teams traded baskets in the third quarter, with neither team leading by more than two until Konig drove it along the baseline and laid it in to give NC State a 43-40 lead with less than a minute in the period.

A Cooper three-pointer tied the game up for Syracuse with 6:15 left in the game, but the Wolfpack buckled down to rebuild an eight-point (55-47) lead. The Orange would not go quietly, narrowing its deficit down to two in the final minute of the game, but Wolfpack weathered the storm, led by three clutch free throws and a last second block by DD Rogers to seal the deal for NC State.

NC State is set to visit rival UNC-Chapel Hill on Thursday, Jan. 18. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. with live video coverage provided by ACC Network Extra.

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