NC State
23-3,11-3ACC
Georgia Tech
15-12,6-9ACC
#6 Wolfpack Outlasts Georgia Tech 86-85 in Overtime Win
2/18/2024 3:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball
RALEIGH – Sixth ranked NC State women's basketball (23-3, 11-3 ACC) battled out an overtime victory over visiting Georgia Tech (15-12, 6-9 ACC) on Sunday afternoon, beating the Yellow Jackets by one, 86-85.
Despite trailing for a good chunk of the game, NC State overcame a Georgia Tech first-half lead of as great as eight points to gut out the eventual win. It marked the biggest deficit that the Wolfpack has overcome in an ACC victory this year and extended the team's current winning streak to three games.
NC State is 10-5 in overtime games in the Moore era, and the Pack has now won its last three overtime contests all against ACC opponents (Feb. 16, 2023 vs. UNC and Jan. 4, 2024 vs. Florida State).
The Pack did a great job of attacking the basket in the extra period, with all 10 of its overtime points coming in the form of layups. The Yellow Jackets scored the final five of overtime, most notably drawing within one off Kara Dunn's seventh three of the day late in the shot clock, but NC State made a defensive stop in the final play of the game to close out the victory.
Aziaha James (30 points) led the way for the Pack in scoring with her second 30+ point game of the year, scoring 22 of those in the first half alone. River Baldwin (16 points), Madison Hayes (15 points) and Saniya Rivers (10 points) joined her, and Mimi Collins finished just outside of double figures with nine points. Baldwin and Hayes combined for 15 of the Pack's points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
The Wolfpack dominated the offensive glass with a 13-5 advantage, leading to an 11-point differential on second-chance baskets. Collins and Hayes each led the way with four offensive rebounds, and Hayes finished with 11 total rebounds to notch her team-leading fifth double-double of the season.
Georgia Tech got off to a hot start, starting 7-of-7 from the field to begin the game and ultimately shooting 50+ percent in each of the first three periods of the contest. The Yellow Jackets hit that game-high lead of eight (41-33) with two minutes remaining in the first half, but the Pack went on a 9-0 run over the last 1:16 of the second quarter to regain the lead. The run was capped off by a three-point buzzer beater from James to send NC State to the locker room up 42-41.
In the third quarter, NC State started where it left off with a half-opening three pointer from Hayes that started a quick 5-0 run (47-41). The Pack's six-point lead marked the largest it held in regulation, but Georgia Tech answered back by scoring 10 unanswered to get back in front in the final minutes of the third quarter.
The teams got into a back and forth battle with six ties and three lead changes in the final 10 minutes of regulation alone. Rivers had an offensive rebound putback with 4.2 seconds left, was fouled on the play and made the free throw to put the Pack up a bucket (76-73), but Dunn sank a desperation three pointer before the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
The Pack scored the first four points of overtime to give itself some cushion and never trailed in the extra five minutes.
NC State will play back-to-back games against its fellow Triangle teams starting with a Thursday night primetime matchup at North Carolina. Tip-off from Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill is slated for 8 p.m. with national television coverage on the ACC Network.
