After losing sole possession of first place in the ACC after a 66-59 loss to No. 9 Louisville Thursday night, the No. 4 NC State women’s basketball team is right back in action Sunday for a home game against Georgia Tech.
Despite not winning the top-10 matchup against the Cardinals, not all hope is lost for the Wolfpack (22-2, 11-2 ACC) in regards to winning a regular season ACC Championship. This starts with the Yellow Jackets (16-9, 7-7 ACC), a team NC State should not take lightly, coming to town Sunday.
Georgia Tech is tied for eighth place in the conference with North Carolina and is coming off a tough overtime loss on the road to Virginia Tech. Its most notable win of the season came on the road in Tallahassee, Florida, defeating then-No. 11 Florida State comfortably 67-52.
The Yellow Jackets are a well-balanced scoring team, with four players averaging double digits in points. Guard Francesca Pan leads the team with 12.2 points per game, while guard Jasmine Carson is next at 11.4 points per game. Carson has made 50 3-pointers this season, which leads the team.
In points per game as a team, the Wolfpack trumps the Yellow Jackets. NC State averages 73.4 points per game, while Georgia Tech sits at 12th in the ACC with just 62.7 points per game.
Georgia Tech makes up for its scoring woes by playing hard-nosed defense. The Yellow Jackets rank first in the ACC, only allowing 51.4 points per game. Second place is NC State at 55.4 points per game. With both teams playing such great defense this year, expect this game to be a low-scoring dogfight Sunday inside Reynolds Coliseum.
If NC State wants to get back in the win column, it will need a better performance from leading scorer and rebounder sophomore center Elissa Cunane, who went 1 for 12 from the field against Louisville. The Lisa Leslie Award finalist, which is for the nations top center is more than capable of bouncing back against the Yellow Jackets.
Senior guard Aislinn Konig is looking for a bounce-back game as well, after struggling against Louisville. The British Columbia native, who averages 10.8 points per game, only mustered four points against Louisville on 0-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line.
The best player for the Wolfpack against the Cardinals was junior forward Kayla Jones, who scored 17 points and brought down seven rebounds. If she can post similar numbers against Georgia Tech, along with better performances from Cunane and Konig, the Wolfpack should be able to get back in the win column Sunday.
Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16 inside Reynolds Coliseum. Follow @TechSports on twitter for live updates from the conference matchup.
