The No. 10 NC State women’s basketball team will return home this Monday to face Duke at Reynolds Coliseum in the 15th annual Play4Kay game.
This will be the Wolfpack’s second matchup with Duke this year, the first resulting in a gutsy 3-point win at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Wolfpack (23-3, 12-3 ACC) overcame a 10-point second-half deficit in that game behind three clutch fourth-quarter 3 pointers from senior guard Grace Hunter.
Blue Devils (16-10, 10-5 ACC) guard Haley Gorecki gave NC State a lot of problems that game, dropping 21 points while playing lockdown defense with two steals and a block. She will surely be looking to have just as strong of a game in Reynolds Monday.
Additionally, Duke forward Leonna Odom, despite not giving the Wolfpack too much trouble in the last matchup, has been on a nice hot streak lately. She led the Blue Devils in scoring with 17 points against Virginia and put up 20 against Pittsburgh. It will be interesting to see if this streak will result in Odom having more of an impact against NC State come Monday.
The Wolfpack has had some struggles recently, dropping two straight at home to No. 9 Louisville and unranked Georgia Tech. Those two games saw extremely reduced production from two of NC State’s most potent scorers, senior guard Aislinn Konig and sophomore center Elissa Cunane.
Konig has not seen double figures in points for a few games and did not score at all against Georgia Tech. Cunane at times has looked powerless against stronger defenders, and if calls aren’t going her way, she is a lot less of a threat in the post.
However, NC State did manage to turn things around with yet another comeback win, this time on the road against Miami with a game-winning jumper from freshman forward Jakia Brown-Turner. She set her new career-high in points in that game with 18 and is going to be an important part of NC State’s offense Monday.
Duke is coming off a five-game win streak against some conference opponents that have given NC State a lot of trouble, and the Blue Devils have seen good production from their best players. It seems Duke will definitely have the momentum advantage coming into this game, despite it being on the road.
A win here is key for NC State, as the NCAA Tournament bracket is starting to solidify, and a host spot is by no means secure. But both teams are going to have their work cut out for them if they want a check in the win column.
The game will begin at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24th in Reynolds Coliseum and can be watched on ESPN2.
