NC State
Elon
Wolfpack to Close Out Non-Conference Action with Wednesday Matchup Against Elon
12/8/2020 2:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball
NC State seeking third consecutive perfect non-conference record
GAME NOTES | LIVE STATS | ACC NETWORK
RALEIGH – The fourth-ranked NC State women's basketball team (4-0) will finish out the non-conference portion of its schedule on Wednesday evening as it hosts Elon (2-0). Tip-off between the Wolfpack and the Phoenix is set for 7:15 p.m. from Kay Yow Court inside Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum.
The game will be televised nationally on the ACC Network, and radio broadcasters Patrick Kinas and Ashley Eli will be on the call on WKNC 88.1 FM in Raleigh.
Due to health and safety recommendations and current state guidelines, home NC State women's basketball games are closed to the public.
A WIN ON WEDNESDAY WOULD...
• Be the 949th win in program history (948-471)
• Be head coach Wes Moore's 731st career win (730-231)
• Be Moore's 173rd win at NC State (172-62)
• Be the Pack's seventh straight 5-0 start to a season
• Be NC State's 40th straight home victory over a non-conference opponent on Kay Yow Court
• Mark the Wolfpack's third season in a row wrapping up the non-conference portion of its schedule with a perfect record
NOTING THE WOLFPACK (4-0)
• Moved up four spots in this week's Associated Press Top-25 Poll to check in at No. 4
• Returns nine players and four starters from last season's squad that went 28-4 overall and won the 2020 ACC Tournament
• Selected to finish second in the ACC this season behind Louisville
• Four players on the team who have compiled shooting marks of better than 42 percent after taking at least 20 attempts - Kayla Jones (.563), Raina Perez (.563), Kai Crutchfield (.522), Elissa Cunane (.429)
• Held last two opponents to under 28 percent shooting from the floor
• Outscoring opponents in the paint by an average of 20.5 points per game while also averaging 8.3 three pointers per game
• Ranked in the top 30 nationally in: assist-to-turnover ratio (8th - 1.72), assists per game (10th - 20.2), fewest personal fouls per game (6th - 12.2), scoring margin (11th - +31.5), defensive rebounds per game (12th - 34.5), scoring offense (20th - 88.2), field-goal percentage (21st - .486) and field-goal percentage defense (26th - .320)
• Perez is leading the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (17.0) with just one turnover through four games of the 2020-21 season
FAMILIAR HEIGHTS
The Wolfpack checked in at a season-high No. 4 in Monday's edition of the Associated Press Top-25 Poll. It marks the 37th week in program history that NC State has been featured in the top five.
The Pack has already established itself as a mainstay in the rankings. The program has spent 396 total weeks ranked in the AP poll in its history and has been ranked every week since Feb. 5, 2018. In 2019-20, the Pack spent the entire year in the AP Top 15 and was featured inside the Top 10 for the last 15 weeks of the campaign.
NC State opened the year with its best AP preseason ranking (No. 8) since 1990-91, and its current ranking matches its best from last season when it was also tabbed No. 4 on Feb. 10. That was the program's best ranking since Jan. 10, 2000 when the Wolfpack was listed third to cap off six-straight weeks spend in the national top five.
SCOUTING THE PHOENIX (2-0)
• 2-0 start to the season with wins over Gardner Webb (88-60) and Western Carolina (69-54)
• Picked to finish fourth in the CAA, with with Ariel Colón and Brie Perpignan named Preseason All-CAA selections
• Returning 13 of 14 players and four of five starters from the 2019-20 squad that went 14-16 overall and 8-10 in conference play
• Two players averaging double figures through two games this season - Ariel Colón (11.0) and Saadia Munford (10.5)
SERIES HISTORY (NC State leads 10-1)
• Wednesday marks the 12th meeting between NC State and Elon. This will mark the third year in a row that the teams have faced off during the non-conference portion of their seasons.
• Elon's lone victory in the series was a 69-66 win on Dec. 13, 2015. That game was played at Broughton High School during the Reynolds Coliseum renovation, and the Pack remains unbeaten against the Phoenix when playing on Kay Yow Court.
• NC State defeated Elon 62-49 in the last meeting between the squads. The Pack forced 20 Phoenix turnovers and scored 10 unanswered points in the middle of the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
CLUTCH KJ
Jones was honored as ACC Player of the Week on Dec. 7, marking the first such honors of her career. She averaged a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) in the Pack's two games last week and helped lead the Wolfpack past South Carolina and Coastal Carolina.
The Jamesville, N.C., native posted her first career double-double in NC State's road win over the No. 1 Gamecocks with a game-leading 16 points and 12 rebounds. After South Carolina cut the Wolfpack's lead to two (48-46), Jones nailed a clutch three pointer with 27 seconds remaining and almost immediately took a charge on the other end of the floor to help seal the win.
She played just 17 minutes in Sunday's game against Coastal Carolina but still put together a productive outing of 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
For the week, Jones shot 50 percent from the field (11-of-22) and 75 percent from beyond the arc (3-of-4) and hauled in five offensive rebounds, three of which came against a formidable South Carolina front court.
DISHING IT OUT
NC State's ball movement has been impressive in the early phases of the 2020-21 campaign. The squad has assisted on 81 of its 136 buckets (59.6 percent assist rate). Three of four games have seen the squad dish out 20 or more assists, which includes a season-high 28 assists in the Pack's win over Coastal Carolina.
That number marks the most in a single game for NC State in the Wes Moore era (previous high was 27 against Elon in 2013, Moore's first season with the Wolfpack). It is also the most for the Pack in a single game since at least the 2000-01 campaign.
Three players are already in double-figure assists on the season - Jakia Brown-Turner (18), Perez (17) and Jones (11).
COMING UP
NC State at Boston College • Sunday, Dec. 13 • 2 p.m. • ACC Network
#GoPack | @PackWomensBball
