NC State
15-5,5-4ACC
Louisville
15-7,6-3ACC
#20 Pack Shuts Down Louisville in Fourth Quarter on Way to 63-51 Win
1/22/2023 3:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 20th-ranked Wolfpack women's basketball team (15-5, 5-4 ACC) claimed its fourth straight in the series with the Louisville Cardinals (15-7, 6-3 ACC) as it came away with a 63-51 win in Sunday's showdown.
After its incredible fourth-quarter comeback against the Cardinals at home last season, the Wolfpack put together another solid final period as it outscored Louisville 15-4 in the final 10 minutes. NC State allowed the Cardinals to knock down just one attempt from the floor in the fourth quarter, which included a six and a half minute scoreless drought for Louisville in the middle of the period.
Jada Boyd led four Pack players who scored in double figures on the day. She posted 15 points with a 6-of-8 shooting performance and also hauled in a team-leading seven rebounds. Diamond Johnson (12), Saniya Rivers (12) and Mimi Collins (11) also helped lead the charge.
Johnson (6 assists) and Rivers (5 assists) continued to show off their playmaking prowess, and all eight players who saw time on the floor had at least three rebounds on the day.
NC State got off to a hot start with a scorching 80 percent clip (4-of-5) from three and 70 percent mark overall (7-of-10) in the first quarter. The Wolfpack led by as many as 11 points (19-8, 1:50) in the opening period after holding Louisville to 1-of-9 from the floor to start.
Louisville scored the final five points of the first quarter to put the Pack's lead at 19-13 following 10 minutes of action. The teams traded buckets to start the second quarter, but NC State went cold over the last five minutes of the half. The Pack hit just one of its five shots and turned the ball over four times from the 5:06 mark on. Louisville used that to go on a 13-4 run and went ahead by two (33-31) at the break after NC State had led for nearly 18 minutes in the first half.
NC State managed to tie it up on three four occasions in the third quarter before jumping ahead by one (48-47) with a free throw to end the period. The Pack never trailed again.
Playing in front of a Louisville crowd of over 11,000, NC State handed the Cardinals their first home ACC loss in 14 games. The last time Louisville lost at home to a league opponent was in the 2020-21 season, also to the Wolfpack
NC State has an open date on Thursday and will next be in action at home next Sunday, Jan. 29 to host seventh-ranked Notre Dame. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. on ESPN, and the game is already sold out. Fans who are interested in purchasing tickets may do so on StubHub, the official fan-to-fan marketplace of the Wolfpack.
#GoPack | @PackWomensBball
