NC State
15-1,3-1ACC
Virginia
8-7,0-4ACC
NC State Bounces Back with Dominant 93-66 Win Over Virginia
1/11/2024 9:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball
RALEIGH – NC State (15-1, 3-1 ACC) kept its home winning streak alive as it cruised by visiting Virginia (8-7, 0-4 ACC), with the sixth-ranked Wolfpack beating the Cavaliers 93-66 in front of another sold out Reynolds Coliseum crowd on Thursday night.
The Pack was once again able to show off its variety of offensive weapons as five players scored in double figures in the team's home win. NC State's 93 points were the most scored by the team in a game this season and its first time scoring more than 90 against a conference opponent since its home finale against Syracuse on Feb. 20, 2022.
Freshman guard Zoe Brooks set a new career high in scoring with 19 points in her fifth career start, as did fellow rookie Laci Steele who scored 13 points and knocked down three triples. Mimi Collins nearly notched a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds, Madison Hayes added 17 and Aziaha James scored 15.
All available players saw time in the victory, and 10 different Wolfpack players found the scoring column. NC State knocked down 10 threes as a team, with five different players contributing to that tally. James (2-of-3) and Hayes (3-of-7) both joined Steele in multi-three pointer nights.
NC State jumped out to an early 12-4 lead in the first two and a half minutes to force Virginia into a timeout, and the Cavaliers were never able to recover from there. Five unanswered points by Brooks put the Wolfpack up 10 (19-9) just under the six minute mark of the first quarter, and Virginia did not get its deficit back into single digits for the remainder of the game.
After scoring its most points in a half this season to carry a 57-34 lead into the break, NC State led by 20+ for the entirety of the second half.
NC State has now won 11 home games in a row and remains perfect (9-0) in home contests in 2023-24.
Sunday is NC State's open date, and the sixth-ranked Wolfpack will then return to action next Thursday, Jan. 18 with a trip to Miami. That road contest against the Hurricanes is slated to start at 6 p.m. on ACCNX.
