In blowout fashion, the No. 9 NC State women’s basketball team improved to 16-1 Thursday night, knocking off No. 13 Florida State at home in Reynolds Coliseum. The impressive win added to an NCAA Tournament resume that’s growing stronger by the week.
The Wolfpack (16-1, 5-1 ACC) now has two ranked wins, both home wins over then-No. 9 Maryland and No. 13 Florida State. NC State also has a neutral-court victory over preseason No. 15 Texas and an impressive 14-point comeback win at home against Virginia Tech.
“Long way to go, but these types of wins look good when the committee tries to figure out seeding,” said NC State coach Wes Moore. “That’s why it’s so important [to win], especially at home.”
Last year, despite a 21-0 start and a third-place finish in the ACC behind two Final Four teams in Notre Dame and Louisville, the Wolfpack was given a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A worthy accomplishment, of course, but one that resulted in NC State having to play No. 2 Iowa and National Player of the Year Megan Gustaffson in the Sweet 16.
This season, the Pack has legitimate Elite Eight and Final Four aspirations, and the better its seed, the higher its chance of reaching its goals. And so far, Moore’s team has done nothing to show it isn’t deserving of a No. 1 or No. 2 seed, reserved for the top eight teams.
On the biggest stages, such as Thursday night against Florida State or Dec. 5 against top-10 Maryland on ESPN, the Wolfpack has shown up ready to play. NC State beat its two ranked opponents, Maryland and Florida State, by an average of 12 points per game.
With a relatively weak schedule the rest of the season (only one ranked opponent left, No. 5 Louisville), Thursday night’s win was huge for the Wolfpack. The ACC is in a down year, and if NC State wants a No. 1 or No. 2 seed, it very well may need to sweep Florida State and Louisville and win the ACC.
Its blowout win over Florida State was impressive and important, and the Pack is going to need more complete games like that if it’s going to go on a necessary deep ACC Tournament run.
“They’re big, as far as talking about a resume,” Moore said. “We’ve been fortunate the last two years to host [the first two NCAA Tournament rounds], but we’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got a whole lot of tough teams ahead of us.”
Sophomore center Elissa Cunane goes up for a layup against Florida State at Reynolds Coliseum on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020. Cunane scored 20 points during the game and the Wolfpack won 68-51.
