Photo by: Ken Martin
Wolfpack Falls to No. 12 Florida State on Senior Night, 56-52
2/25/2016 10:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Photos by Ken Martin
RALEIGH - The NC State women's basketball team (18-10, 9-6 ACC) dropped a heartbreaker Thursday evening in its home finale, falling to No. 12 Florida State (22-6, 12-3 ACC) by a final score of 56-52. Despite leading for 22:37 of the game's 40 minutes, the Wolfpack was outscored 32-26 in the second half and edged in the final three minutes by the Seminoles.
In addition to honoring the careers of seniors Ashley Eli, Kaley Moser, and Carlee Schuhmacher, Thursday's game also served as the final contest played inside Broughton High School's Holliday Gymnasium. The Wolfpack played 13 of 15 home games this season at Broughton while Reynolds Coliseum undergoes a $35 million renovation ahead of next season.
A DD Rogers free throw put the Wolfpack ahead 49-47 with 3:23 remaining in the fourth quarter. Shakayla Thomas tied the game up 13 seconds later with a layup and teammate Leticia Romero hit a three and a layup two minutes later to give the Seminoles a 54-49 lead which they would not relinquish. Dominique Wilson—fouled on a three-point attempt—would sink three free throws with nine seconds remaining to pull the Pack within two points (54-52), but Ivey Slaughter closed the game out with two free throws to make it 56-52.
"Another heartbreaker," NC State head coach Wes Moore said in his postgame press conference with the media. "As a coach, when you lose these close games like this, you're going to second guess everything.
"You've got to give Florida State a lot of credit. They did a great job defensively. They made it hard on our guards to get the ball. The posts showed and really helped off picks on the ball and made it hard for our guards to turn the corner. The result of that was a lot of turnovers.
"I hate it for our kids. They played hard again and did a lot of good things and just came up short."
The Wolfpack was led in scoring by 16 points from Jennifer Mathurin. She was joined in double figures by Dominique Wilson (11 points) and Chelsea Nelson (10 points, eight rebounds). NC State shot 7-13 (.538) from the field in the first quarter en route to taking a 17-12 lead and 16-51 (.314) throughout the entire game.
Three Florida State players scored in double figures as Thomas (19 points), Romero (15), and Adut Bulgak (15) all had strong offensive performances. The Seminoles had a strong second half, shooting 12-25 (.480) from the field during the final 20 minutes of the game and 22-62 (.355) overall.
NC State led the game from the first made field goal until Thomas scored with 5:01 remaining in the second quarter to make it 21-20 in favor of the visitors. The Wolfpack battled back to take a 26-24 advantage into the halftime break and the teams traded the lead three times before ending the third quarter deadlocked at 40.
The Wolfpack closes out the regular season at Clemson on Sunday afternoon. NC State will then open play in the 2016 ACC Tournament on Thursday, March 3 at 8 p.m. as the #6 seed. The Wolfpack will play the winner of the #11 seed and #14 seed, who will meet Wednesday, March 2 at 6:30 p.m.
#GoPack
RALEIGH - The NC State women's basketball team (18-10, 9-6 ACC) dropped a heartbreaker Thursday evening in its home finale, falling to No. 12 Florida State (22-6, 12-3 ACC) by a final score of 56-52. Despite leading for 22:37 of the game's 40 minutes, the Wolfpack was outscored 32-26 in the second half and edged in the final three minutes by the Seminoles.
In addition to honoring the careers of seniors Ashley Eli, Kaley Moser, and Carlee Schuhmacher, Thursday's game also served as the final contest played inside Broughton High School's Holliday Gymnasium. The Wolfpack played 13 of 15 home games this season at Broughton while Reynolds Coliseum undergoes a $35 million renovation ahead of next season.
A DD Rogers free throw put the Wolfpack ahead 49-47 with 3:23 remaining in the fourth quarter. Shakayla Thomas tied the game up 13 seconds later with a layup and teammate Leticia Romero hit a three and a layup two minutes later to give the Seminoles a 54-49 lead which they would not relinquish. Dominique Wilson—fouled on a three-point attempt—would sink three free throws with nine seconds remaining to pull the Pack within two points (54-52), but Ivey Slaughter closed the game out with two free throws to make it 56-52.
"Another heartbreaker," NC State head coach Wes Moore said in his postgame press conference with the media. "As a coach, when you lose these close games like this, you're going to second guess everything.
"You've got to give Florida State a lot of credit. They did a great job defensively. They made it hard on our guards to get the ball. The posts showed and really helped off picks on the ball and made it hard for our guards to turn the corner. The result of that was a lot of turnovers.
"I hate it for our kids. They played hard again and did a lot of good things and just came up short."
The Wolfpack was led in scoring by 16 points from Jennifer Mathurin. She was joined in double figures by Dominique Wilson (11 points) and Chelsea Nelson (10 points, eight rebounds). NC State shot 7-13 (.538) from the field in the first quarter en route to taking a 17-12 lead and 16-51 (.314) throughout the entire game.
Three Florida State players scored in double figures as Thomas (19 points), Romero (15), and Adut Bulgak (15) all had strong offensive performances. The Seminoles had a strong second half, shooting 12-25 (.480) from the field during the final 20 minutes of the game and 22-62 (.355) overall.
NC State led the game from the first made field goal until Thomas scored with 5:01 remaining in the second quarter to make it 21-20 in favor of the visitors. The Wolfpack battled back to take a 26-24 advantage into the halftime break and the teams traded the lead three times before ending the third quarter deadlocked at 40.
Back in front on a @jen11r THREE! 34-33. pic.twitter.com/iCQOIyMP96
— NC State WBB (@PackWomensBball) February 26, 2016
The Wolfpack closes out the regular season at Clemson on Sunday afternoon. NC State will then open play in the 2016 ACC Tournament on Thursday, March 3 at 8 p.m. as the #6 seed. The Wolfpack will play the winner of the #11 seed and #14 seed, who will meet Wednesday, March 2 at 6:30 p.m.
#GoPack
Team Stats
FS
ST
FG%
.355
.314
3FG%
.333
.190
FT%
.800
.667
RB
41
36
TO
18
21
STL
11
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Players Mentioned
Zamareya Jones Summer Media Availability
Wednesday, July 23
Coach Moore Summer Media Availability
Wednesday, July 23
Aziaha James Introductory Press Conference with Dallas Wings
Wednesday, April 23
Saniya Rivers Introductory Presser with Connecticut Sun
Tuesday, April 15