NC State women’s basketball goes 1-1 in ACC Tournament

Throughout its season, NC State women’s basketball has certainly experienced its fair share of highs and lows. Despite initially starting the season off very strong, things seemed to unravel heading into the backstretch of the year.

As the Pack headed to Greensboro for the ACC Tournament, it had lost five of its past nine games. With its back seemingly against the wall, it certainly wanted to make some noise in the tournament in order to help further solidify its bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Round 2: Syracuse

After earning a first-round bye, the Pack met Syracuse in the second round. After a nail-biting 56-54 victory over the Orange in early January, this matchup was the opposite.

NC State had perhaps the type of all- around performance it had been craving as multiple facets of the offense seemed to be clicking, and the Pack led the Orange for 36 of the total 40 minutes of the game en route to a comfortable 83-58 victory. As evidence of the success of shooting the ball, five players each scored in the double digits.

The Pack’s offense found a lot of success within the paint. Outscoring the Orange 5424 inside, NC State asserted its dominance. Both centers, senior Camille Hobby and graduate River Baldwin, certainly played a part in this as they combined for 30 points. Rebounding also played a key role as the Pack also won the rebound differential with 41 total rebounds. This helped lead to 20 second-chance points.

The Pack’s offense also found success from the perimeter. Heading into the game, the Pack ranked 10th in the ACC in terms of efficiency from deep. However, to the delight of many fans, NC State shot 36% from 3, which came from the likes of senior wing Jakia Brown-Turner and junior guard Madison Hayes.

All these factors helped the Pack cruise to a dominant win. The team’s ability to fire on all cylinders provided great confidence heading into the quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals: Notre Dame

After advancing to the next round of the tournament, NC State found itself facing first-seeded Notre Dame. There certainly was room for optimism. The Irish were missing star guard Olivia Miles, who had been on the court the previous time the two teams met for a gutsy 69-65 NC State victory. Despite this, the Irish prevailed this time around in a hard-fought 66-60 ballgame.

During its previous game against Syracuse, the Pack collectively shot 60% from the field. However, this success was not replicated against the Irish; the team as a whole shot a rather measly 37% from the field. This included a second quarter where the Pack was only able to score four points after starting the first with 18. Meanwhile, despite not having the best shooting day itself, the Irish used this to their advantage to shift the momentum in their favor.

A major concern from this game was efficiency from downtown. After a solid performance in its first game, the Pack largely struggled, as it only shot 13% from behind the arc. Leading up to the 5:53 mark in the fourth quarter, the Pack had failed to hit a single shot from deep. However, BrownTurner nailed two late in the game in an attempt for a comeback.

Another area of concern lies with paint presence. In this game, the Pack was outscored in the paint 28-26 which largely stemmed from also losing the rebound differential. Whereas in the second round, Baldwin and Hobby found lots of success, this game was the opposite as they only combined for six points.

As the Pack awaits Selection Sunday to learn of its tournament destination, there are still question marks that need to be addressed. As evidenced in the ACC Tournament, lack of consistency has been an issue for the team this season. If NC State is able to play up to its potential and succeed in multiple aspects of the game, it can make a run.