#21 Wolfpack Claims 11th ACC Win at Pittsburgh

Thursday, February 22

Pittsburgh, PA

7PM

NC State

(22-6, 11-4ACC)

Pittsburgh

(10-18,2-13ACC)

Team	1	2	3	4	F
#21 NC State	22	24	15	16	77
Pitt	23	11	15	17	66

2/22/2018 8:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score @PackWomensBball

Senior Chelsea Nelson scores 30 points in road win

February 22, 2018

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Led by a career-high 30 points from senior Chelsea Nelson, the No. 21/22 NC State women's basketball team (22-6, 11-4 ACC) picked up its 10th win in 11 games on Thursday night by earning a 77-66 road victory at Pittsburgh in the penultimate game of the regular season.

NC State led for 29:21 of the game's 40 minutes, earned a 37-21 rebounding advantage over the Panthers, and shot 28-33 (.848) from the free throw line in the victory.

Kaila Ealey (15 points), Aislinn Konig (11), and Kiara Leslie (11) joined Nelson in double figures. Leslie also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out a career-high seven assists in the winning effort. The Wolfpack swiped a season-high 11 steals, four of which came from Ealey.

Yacine Diop led the Panthers with 20 points on 9-17 shooting from the field. She was joined in double figures by Kalista Walters (15) and Jasmine Whitney (15).

Postgame Notes
-NC State now leads the series 5-2 and is a spotless 3-0 against the Panthers in Pittsburgh.
-Nelson's 30 point-performance marked the first time a Wolfpack player scored 30+ points in a game since Miah Spencer scored 31 in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament against No. 14 Texas.
-Thursday's victory was the Wolfpack's 32nd true road win in Moore's five seasons. It took eight seasons to achieve this same number of road victories from 2005-06 to 2012-13.
-Now in the 44th season of the program, NC State has won 22 games or more in a single season 17 times.
-NC State is 20-2 in games this season decided by 10 or more points.

Some quick thoughts from @WolfpackWes and @cnels_chels after tonight's win! #GoPack #ncaaw pic.twitter.com/txPVQIoWCh
— #21 NC State WBB ???? (@PackWomensBball) February 23, 2018

Pittsburgh began the game exceptionally well, hitting 10 of its first 11 field goal attempts to take a 21-12 lead with 4:09 remaining in the first quarter. The Wolfpack found rhythm near the end of the first period, scoring 10 of the final 12 points to pull within one (23-22) heading into the second quarter.

NC State dominated the second quarter, shooting 7-12 (.583) from the field and outscoring the Panthers 24-11 to take a comfortable 46-34 advantage into the halftime break.

Pittsburgh (10-18, 2-13 ACC) threatened early in the third quarter, scoring 10 of the first 12 points of the period to pull within four (48-44) just 3:22 after halftime. A layup by Erika Cassell with 5:04 remaining in the frame and a jumper 14 seconds later by Nelson gave the Wolfpack a bit more breathing room, and the team would perform well down the stretch of the quarter to lead 61-49 heading into the game's final 10 minutes.

The Panthers would cut NC State's lead to single digits on three occasions in the fourth quarter, but they would never come closer than within eight points.

NC State concludes the 2017-18 regular season at No. 5/4 Notre Dame on Sunday, Feb. 25. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

#GoPack | @PackWomensBball