Nicholas Faulkner
Sophomore forward Erika Cassell goes up to sink her third long jumper in a row. Cassell had nine points and five rebounds in what was a breakout game. The Wolfpack struggled early but strong defense led the team to a 62-35 win over Elon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 16 in Reynolds Coliseum.
The NC State women’s basketball team won its first round game of the NCAA Tournament Friday, beating Elon 62-35 in Reynolds Coliseum.
The Wolfpack (24-8, 11-5 ACC) used a dominant second half to put Elon (25-8, 14-4 CAA) away, outscoring the Phoenix 35-18. The Wolfpack closed out the game on a 20-5 run starting at the 1:17 mark of the third quarter.
An early drive from redshirt junior guard Kiara Leslie pushed the Pack ahead and she followed with a 3-pointer to put the Pack up 11-3. Leslie scored eight of the Pack’s 16 first-quarter points.
Senior forward Chelsea Nelson and senior center Akela Maize had a tough start. Nelson was taken out early after picking up her second foul midway through the second quarter while Maize was struggling getting her low-post shots over the lengthy arms of the Elon bigs.
After Leslie’s 3-pointer, the Pack and Phoenix traded buckets to close out the quarter, finishing with the Pack up 16-8.
In a second quarter that saw the Wolfpack struggle from the field, sophomore guard Aislinn Konig’s shooting kept the Pack afloat. Konig scored seven of the Pack’s 11 second quarter points, with Maize picking up the other four.
With the rest of the team shooting 1 for 7 in the second quarter, Konig shot 3 for 4 herself, knocking down a 3-pointer and a deep jumper before slashing to the lane for a layup to give the Wolfpack a 27-17 advantage heading into halftime.
NC State head coach Wes Moore wasn’t pleased with his team’s first half efforts.
“Not real pretty in the first half,” Moore said.
Nelson agreed with Moore that the first half was sloppy, but she attributed it to some bad luck.
“We were just off a little bit,” Nelson said. “We were taking good shots, they just weren’t falling.”
Coming back onto the court for the second half, the Pack was finally able to penetrate Elon’s defense as Leslie was able to lose her defender for a jumpshot and Konig was able to drive baseline for four quick points to start the half.
With just under six minutes to play in the third quarter and the Wolfpack threatening to break the game open, Konig nabbed a steal on the defensive end and after a brief struggle for the ball down low, calmly stepped out a sank a 3-pointer to put the Pack up 37-19 and blow the doors off the game.
Elon responded with an 11-5 run to cut the Wolfpack lead to 42-30 before Nelson put the team on her back and iced the game.
Nelson pulled up and drained a mid-range jumper, snagged a rebound on the defensive end, and got open for a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to stretch the Pack’s lead to 47-30.
Sophomore forward Erika Cassell came up huge for the Wolfpack in the fourth quarter, knocking down two 3-pointers and scoring eight points off the bench.
“[Cassell] definitely gave us a lift,” Moore said. “It is good to see her step out there and knock some shots down.”
With the Wolfpack up 48-30, Cassell scored eight straight points for the Wolfpack, culminating in a contested 3-pointer that caused the Wolfpack bench to erupt, with Leslie jumping around in circles, waiving her towel in the air at the sight of Cassell, who entered the game with four career 3-pointers, knocking down her second in as many minutes.
Leslie and Konig led the way for the Pack with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Nelson was one point shy of a double-double, finishing with nine points and 12 rebounds.
The Wolfpack shot 22 for 52 from the field, 7 for 17 from the 3-point line and 11 for 17 from the free-throw line.
NC State will take on No. 5 seed Maryland in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday in Reynolds Coliseum.