NC State
16-5,6-4ACC
#7/7 Notre Dame
17-3,8-2ACC
NC State Takes Down #7 Notre Dame for Third-Straight Win
1/29/2023 5:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball
RALEIGH – The 20th-ranked NC State women's basketball team (16-5, 6-4 ACC) picked up its third-straight victory on Sunday afternoon as it took down seventh-ranked Notre Dame (17-3, 8-2 ACC) inside of a sold-out Reynolds Coliseum.
The Wolfpack snapped Notre Dame's five-game winning streak, and it marked NC State's first time claiming back-to-back games in the series between the two squads. NC State's 69 points marked the most an ACC opponent has scored against the Fighting Irish this season.
Leading the Pack's scoring attack was Diamond Johnson (20), whose second 20+ point game of the season marked the most scored by any player on the floor tonight. Johnson knocked down 4-of-9 three pointers to tie her season high and also led the team in assists (5) and rebounds (8). Mimi Collins (13) joined her in double figures.
The Wolfpack's trademark balanced attack on the offensive end of the floor got moving quickly with six different players scoring the Pack's first six baskets of the game. Despite trailing 20-15 at the end of the first quarter, a dominant showing from the Pack in the second period gave NC State a five-point edge (34-29) as the two squads headed into the locker room for halftime.
The Pack produced multiple scoring spurts, including an 8-0 run, in the second frame to engineer a 19-9 margin in the period. After surrendering a basket to Notre Dame's Olivia Miles to open the quarter, the Pack used its eight unanswered points to secure its first lead of the game at 23-22. Back-to-back baskets from Collins near the four-minute mark put the Pack back in front, after which NC State would never trail.
The Wolfpack's offense posted a game-high 24 points in the third frame, using its second 8-0 run of the contest to move ahead 42-31 and force Notre Dame into a timeout with just over six minutes remaining in the quarter. The Pack pumped its lead to as much as 50-34 in the third period, with 16 points marking the most the Irish have trailed by in any game this season. Sparked by six three-pointers from four different Wolfpackers, all but three of NC State's makes from beyond-the-arc came in the penultimate frame.
An 11-0 run from Notre Dame that included 4:57 of scoreless action by the Pack in the fourth period brought the Irish within three points. The Wolfpack, however, limited the Irish to just two points over the final 2:31 of play to clinch its second win over a top-10 opponent this season and its first such victory at home since Jan. 20, 2022.
NC State next travels to Atlanta for a Thursday night game at Georgia Tech. That contest is set for an 8 p.m. start from McCamish Pavilion, and it will be televised nationally on the ACC Network.
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