Friday, March 2
Greensboro, NC
11 AM
NC State
24-7 (11-5ACC)
51
vs
45
#18/15 Duke (ACCT Quarterfinal)
22-8 (11-5ACC)
1
2
3
4
F
#23 NC State
15
16
5
15
51
#18 Duke
14
4
17
10
45
Photo by: Greg Mintel
Still Marching On! #23 NC State Defeats #18 Duke, 51-45
3/2/2018 1:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Wolfpack advances to ACC Tournament semifinals for second time under HC Wes Moore
March 2, 2018
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The No. 23/22 NC State women's basketball team (24-7) picked up its second consecutive ACC Tournament victory on Thursday, earning a 51-45 win over No. 18/15 Duke (22-8) inside the Greensboro Coliseum.
With the victory, NC State advances to the semifinal round of the tournament to take on No. 4/5 Louisville or Virginia Tech on Saturday at noon. The game will be broadcast live nationally on ESPNU.
Senior Chelsea Nelson set an ACC Tournament record with 22 rebounds (nine offensive) in the win to go along with her 15 points. Her 22 rebounds also rank as the second highest single-game total in program history. Nelson was joined in double figures by 11 points from Kiara Leslie.
Postgame Notes
-The win was NC State's fourth over Duke in the last five meetings.
-The win was NC State's seventh over Duke in the ACC Tournament (7-4).
-The win improved NC State's all-time ACC Tournament record to 47-36 and marked the program's 23rd appearance in the semifinal round.
-The win was NC State's 24th of the season, the highest total since Moore's first Wolfpack team went 25-8 in 2013-14.
"Really proud of our kids," NC State head coach Wes Moore said in the postgame press conference. "In the first half, we played extremely well and got off to a nice lead. And then, as you know Duke will do, they came out battling in the second half, and they did a great job with their zone defenses, and we kind of struggled there in the second half to score."
"But like these players have done all year, they handled adversity probably better than I do, and they just kept battling and found a way to get it done. Obviously Chelsea with 22 rebounds is amazing. Can't say enough about how hard she plays and the hustle that she provides us. And Akela, again, great leadership out of both of them."
"It's a nice win for us, and we are excited to be able to stick around."
The teams played a close first quarter with NC State earning a narrow 15-14 advantage. The Wolfpack played a tremendous second quarter on the defensive end, holding the Blue Devils to 1-14 (.071) shooting en route to scoring 16 of 20 points in the quarter to take a 31-18 lead into the halftime break. NC State ended the final 3:59 of the quarter on a 10-0 run. Nelson was all over the boards in the opening 20 minutes, collecting 13 rebounds on her own.
Duke came out of halftime on fire, ripping off a 10-0 run to pull within three points (31-28) just 2:27 into the period. Wolfpack sophomore guard Aislinn Konig hit an important three-pointer to extend the advantage back out to six points and also keep a streak of 28 consecutive games with a made three-pointer alive.
The Blue Devils would twice pull within one point in the third quarter, but despite outscoring the Wolfpack 17-5 in the frame, would not reclaim the lead.
Nelson scored through contact and made the free throw for an old-fashioned three-point play to begin the fourth quarter and extend the Wolfpack's lead back out to four points (39-35) with 9:35 remaining in the contest. Duke came within two points on two occasions during the final 4:13 of the game, but each time, the Wolfpack was able to keep the Blue Devils at bay.
#GoPack | @PackWomensBball
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The No. 23/22 NC State women's basketball team (24-7) picked up its second consecutive ACC Tournament victory on Thursday, earning a 51-45 win over No. 18/15 Duke (22-8) inside the Greensboro Coliseum.
With the victory, NC State advances to the semifinal round of the tournament to take on No. 4/5 Louisville or Virginia Tech on Saturday at noon. The game will be broadcast live nationally on ESPNU.
Senior Chelsea Nelson set an ACC Tournament record with 22 rebounds (nine offensive) in the win to go along with her 15 points. Her 22 rebounds also rank as the second highest single-game total in program history. Nelson was joined in double figures by 11 points from Kiara Leslie.
Postgame Notes
-The win was NC State's fourth over Duke in the last five meetings.
-The win was NC State's seventh over Duke in the ACC Tournament (7-4).
-The win improved NC State's all-time ACC Tournament record to 47-36 and marked the program's 23rd appearance in the semifinal round.
-The win was NC State's 24th of the season, the highest total since Moore's first Wolfpack team went 25-8 in 2013-14.
"Really proud of our kids," NC State head coach Wes Moore said in the postgame press conference. "In the first half, we played extremely well and got off to a nice lead. And then, as you know Duke will do, they came out battling in the second half, and they did a great job with their zone defenses, and we kind of struggled there in the second half to score."
"But like these players have done all year, they handled adversity probably better than I do, and they just kept battling and found a way to get it done. Obviously Chelsea with 22 rebounds is amazing. Can't say enough about how hard she plays and the hustle that she provides us. And Akela, again, great leadership out of both of them."
"It's a nice win for us, and we are excited to be able to stick around."
The teams played a close first quarter with NC State earning a narrow 15-14 advantage. The Wolfpack played a tremendous second quarter on the defensive end, holding the Blue Devils to 1-14 (.071) shooting en route to scoring 16 of 20 points in the quarter to take a 31-18 lead into the halftime break. NC State ended the final 3:59 of the quarter on a 10-0 run. Nelson was all over the boards in the opening 20 minutes, collecting 13 rebounds on her own.
Duke came out of halftime on fire, ripping off a 10-0 run to pull within three points (31-28) just 2:27 into the period. Wolfpack sophomore guard Aislinn Konig hit an important three-pointer to extend the advantage back out to six points and also keep a streak of 28 consecutive games with a made three-pointer alive.
The Blue Devils would twice pull within one point in the third quarter, but despite outscoring the Wolfpack 17-5 in the frame, would not reclaim the lead.
Nelson scored through contact and made the free throw for an old-fashioned three-point play to begin the fourth quarter and extend the Wolfpack's lead back out to four points (39-35) with 9:35 remaining in the contest. Duke came within two points on two occasions during the final 4:13 of the game, but each time, the Wolfpack was able to keep the Blue Devils at bay.
#GoPack | @PackWomensBball
Team Stats
ST
DU
FG%
.290
.275
3FG%
.118
.222
FT%
.684
.813
RB
47
37
TO
14
19
STL
4
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Guard
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