Thursday, February 18
Winston-Salem, NC
7 PM
NC State
at
Wake Forest
Photo by: ehyman@newsobserver.com
Fourth-Ranked Pack Makes Short Trip to Take On Demon Deacons
2/17/2021 12:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball
GAME NOTES | LIVE STATS | STREAMING | TV AFFILIATES
RALEIGH – The No. 4 NC State women's basketball team (13-2, 8-2 ACC) is set to make the short trip for its second regular-season matchup with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (11-8, 8-7 ACC) on Thursday evening. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from the LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C., and live television coverage will be provided by the ACC's Regional Sports Networks (Fox Sports South in Raleigh).
A WIN ON THURSDAY WOULD...
• Be the 958th win in program history (957-473)
• Be head coach Wes Moore's 740th career win (739-233)
• Be Moore's 182nd win at NC State (181-64)
• Be Moore's 86th ACC win at NC State (85-39)
• Be the Wolfpack's seventh in a row over the Demon Deacons
NOTING THE WOLFPACK (13-2, 8-2)
• Ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25 for the third week in a row and been ranked in the national top five since Dec. 7, an 11-week streak
• Stands at second in the ACC behind Louisville (19-1, 12-1 ACC)
• No. 2 nationally and first in the conference in defensive rebounds per game (32.5)
• Paces the league in field-goal percentage (11th nationally, .478), rebound margin (18th nationally, +9.3) and field-goal percentage defense (24th nationally, .357)
• Also top-25 nationally in scoring offense (15th - 80.7), scoring margin (15th - +16.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (24th - 1.22)
• Four members of the squad with scoring averages in double digits - Elissa Cunane (15.6), Jakia Brown-Turner (14.2), Kayla Jones (13.1) and Jada Boyd (11.2)
• Cunane and Brown-Turner both rank in the top 15 in the ACC with their scoring numbers
• Shot better than 50 percent as a team in a total of seven games this season
• Top seven scorers all averaging 42.5 percent or better shooting
• Cunane (2nd - .598) and Brown-Turner (13th - .435) also both ranked in the top 15 in the league in field-goal percentage, with Cunane's number also ranking eighth in the nation
• Perez (2.95) owns the ACC's top assist-to-turnover ratio and also ranks second in assists per game (5.3)
• Averaging 39.1 points in the paint and also a threat from distance with an average of 7.5 made three pointers per contest
• Outscored in the paint on just one occasion and beating out its opponents in that category by an average margin of +13.9
• Put together three-point shooting percentages of 40 percent or better in seven outings
SCOUTING THE DEMON DEACONS (11-8, 8-7)
• Riding a three-game winning streak coming into Thursday's matchup with the Wolfpack
• 5-3 when playing on its home court this season
• Last among active ACC teams in field-goal percentage defense, letting its opponents average 42.2 percent shooting this season
• Two players ranked in the top 10 in the league in scoring
• Senior forward Ivana Raca nearly averages a double-double with team-leading averages of 16.4 points and 9.6 rebounds. Both of those numbers rank top five in the league this season
• Senior Gina Conti also averaging just over 15 points per game (15.4) and also leads the team with 4.1 assists per game
SERIES HISTORY (NC State leads 74-14)
• Thursday's game marks the 89th meeting between NC State and Wake Forest. The teams have met at least once every season since their first matchup on Jan. 16, 1975. They also faced off in 1973 before the Pack was an official varsity squad.
• The Wolfpack has won six meetings in a row against the Demon Deacons.
• NC State owns the 32-9 advantage in games played on Wake Forest's home court. The Pack has won its last three road games against the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest's last win at home against NC State was on Feb. 7, 2016.
• This marks the second regular-season matchup between the Pack and the Demon Deacons. NC State took early control of their previous meeting on Dec. 17, 2020 on its way to winning by a 79-65 score inside Reynolds Coliseum.
EARLY BRACKETOLOGY
The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee released an early reveal of its current top 16 for the tournament that is now a month away. The Pack was selected as the No. 6 overall team, which puts it as a two-seed in Region 3 with one-seed Stanford, three-seed Georgia and four-seed Indiana.
WOLFPACK WES
Wes Moore's 739 career wins rank eighth among active NCAA Division I women's basketball head coaches. He is the winningest active ACC coach, with Virginia Tech's Kenny Brooks coming in next with his 434 career wins.
CLUTCH KJ
Jones is currently one of three players in the ACC (Maddy Westbeld of Notre Dame, Lorela Cubaj of Georgia Tech) to average 13+ points, 7+ rebounds and 2.5+ assists per game. She is the only one of those three players to do that while also averaging over 50 percent shooting.
The Jamesville, N.C., native leads the team in double-doubles (4), double-figure rebounding games (6) and 50+ percent shooting games (10). She has dished out 3+ assists in nine games this season, including two outings with a career-high seven (vs. Wake Forest on Dec. 17 and vs. Clemson on Feb. 11).
COMING UP
NC State vs. North Carolina • Sunday, Feb. 21 • 12 p.m. • ESPN2
#GoPack | @PackWomensBball
RALEIGH – The No. 4 NC State women's basketball team (13-2, 8-2 ACC) is set to make the short trip for its second regular-season matchup with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (11-8, 8-7 ACC) on Thursday evening. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from the LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C., and live television coverage will be provided by the ACC's Regional Sports Networks (Fox Sports South in Raleigh).
A WIN ON THURSDAY WOULD...
• Be the 958th win in program history (957-473)
• Be head coach Wes Moore's 740th career win (739-233)
• Be Moore's 182nd win at NC State (181-64)
• Be Moore's 86th ACC win at NC State (85-39)
• Be the Wolfpack's seventh in a row over the Demon Deacons
NOTING THE WOLFPACK (13-2, 8-2)
• Ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25 for the third week in a row and been ranked in the national top five since Dec. 7, an 11-week streak
• Stands at second in the ACC behind Louisville (19-1, 12-1 ACC)
• No. 2 nationally and first in the conference in defensive rebounds per game (32.5)
• Paces the league in field-goal percentage (11th nationally, .478), rebound margin (18th nationally, +9.3) and field-goal percentage defense (24th nationally, .357)
• Also top-25 nationally in scoring offense (15th - 80.7), scoring margin (15th - +16.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (24th - 1.22)
• Four members of the squad with scoring averages in double digits - Elissa Cunane (15.6), Jakia Brown-Turner (14.2), Kayla Jones (13.1) and Jada Boyd (11.2)
• Cunane and Brown-Turner both rank in the top 15 in the ACC with their scoring numbers
• Shot better than 50 percent as a team in a total of seven games this season
• Top seven scorers all averaging 42.5 percent or better shooting
• Cunane (2nd - .598) and Brown-Turner (13th - .435) also both ranked in the top 15 in the league in field-goal percentage, with Cunane's number also ranking eighth in the nation
• Perez (2.95) owns the ACC's top assist-to-turnover ratio and also ranks second in assists per game (5.3)
• Averaging 39.1 points in the paint and also a threat from distance with an average of 7.5 made three pointers per contest
• Outscored in the paint on just one occasion and beating out its opponents in that category by an average margin of +13.9
• Put together three-point shooting percentages of 40 percent or better in seven outings
SCOUTING THE DEMON DEACONS (11-8, 8-7)
• Riding a three-game winning streak coming into Thursday's matchup with the Wolfpack
• 5-3 when playing on its home court this season
• Last among active ACC teams in field-goal percentage defense, letting its opponents average 42.2 percent shooting this season
• Two players ranked in the top 10 in the league in scoring
• Senior forward Ivana Raca nearly averages a double-double with team-leading averages of 16.4 points and 9.6 rebounds. Both of those numbers rank top five in the league this season
• Senior Gina Conti also averaging just over 15 points per game (15.4) and also leads the team with 4.1 assists per game
SERIES HISTORY (NC State leads 74-14)
• Thursday's game marks the 89th meeting between NC State and Wake Forest. The teams have met at least once every season since their first matchup on Jan. 16, 1975. They also faced off in 1973 before the Pack was an official varsity squad.
• The Wolfpack has won six meetings in a row against the Demon Deacons.
• NC State owns the 32-9 advantage in games played on Wake Forest's home court. The Pack has won its last three road games against the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest's last win at home against NC State was on Feb. 7, 2016.
• This marks the second regular-season matchup between the Pack and the Demon Deacons. NC State took early control of their previous meeting on Dec. 17, 2020 on its way to winning by a 79-65 score inside Reynolds Coliseum.
EARLY BRACKETOLOGY
The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee released an early reveal of its current top 16 for the tournament that is now a month away. The Pack was selected as the No. 6 overall team, which puts it as a two-seed in Region 3 with one-seed Stanford, three-seed Georgia and four-seed Indiana.
WOLFPACK WES
Wes Moore's 739 career wins rank eighth among active NCAA Division I women's basketball head coaches. He is the winningest active ACC coach, with Virginia Tech's Kenny Brooks coming in next with his 434 career wins.
CLUTCH KJ
Jones is currently one of three players in the ACC (Maddy Westbeld of Notre Dame, Lorela Cubaj of Georgia Tech) to average 13+ points, 7+ rebounds and 2.5+ assists per game. She is the only one of those three players to do that while also averaging over 50 percent shooting.
The Jamesville, N.C., native leads the team in double-doubles (4), double-figure rebounding games (6) and 50+ percent shooting games (10). She has dished out 3+ assists in nine games this season, including two outings with a career-high seven (vs. Wake Forest on Dec. 17 and vs. Clemson on Feb. 11).
COMING UP
NC State vs. North Carolina • Sunday, Feb. 21 • 12 p.m. • ESPN2
#GoPack | @PackWomensBball
Players Mentioned
Wing
/ Women's Basketball
Center
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
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