After making a run to the ACC Tournament title game last season as a No. 6 seed, the N.C. State women’s basketball team proved it still had a little magic left over from last year’s late-season surge.
Trailing by one point with less than 15 seconds remaining, senior Brittany Strachan knocked down two clutch free throws to give the 10th-seeded Wolfpack a 71-70 lead over Boston College in the first round of the ACC Tournament Thursday night in Greensboro Coliseum.
Following Strachan’s made free throws, the seventh-seeded Eagles took a timeout to set up a game-winning shot, but State’s defense held strong in the final seconds to seal the victory and move on to the second round of the tournament where it will face No. 2 seed Miami today at 2 p.m. The injury-riddled Wolfpack is once again hitting on all cylinders during the late stages of the season, winning four of its last five games.
But unlike last season the Pack (14-16 overall) is in a must-win scenario if it hopes to make the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row under coach Kellie Harper.
Leading the way for the Pack was junior Bonae Holston, who justified her selection to the All-ACC second team by finishing with 21 points and nine rebounds, both team-highs. Despite a poor night shooting (3-13 FG), sophomore guard Marissa Kastanek, an honorable mention All-ACC selection, was a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe to finish with 15 points.
Joining Holston and Kastanek in double figures were Amber White and Strachan, who finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
State was slow out of the gates as the Eagles built a 24-11 lead to start the game and were in full control for the majority of the first half until heavy defensive pressure allowed the Pack to cut the deficit to 32-27 at intermission.
Led by 6-foot-6 center Carolyn Swords, who finished with a game-high 27 points, Boston College opened its lead to 14 points at the start of the second half. But the Pack once again turned up its defense a notch, forcing several BC turnovers. Behind stout defense, the Wolfpack went on a 12-0 run of its own to tie the game at 55 with nine minutes remaining. In all, State’s defense forced 25 turnovers by the Eagles.
The Pack was able to hold the lead down the stretch, but surrendered a three-pointer to BC’s Stephanie Murphy with under a minute to play, cutting State’s lead to 69-68. Two free throws by BC’s Kerri Shields handed the Eagles a 70-69 lead with 25 seconds left to play.
The Wolfpack tried to get the ball to Holston down low on the block, but after a the ball rimmed out, Strachan grabbed the rebound and was fouled on the put back attempt. The senior drained the go-ahead free throws to give the Pack a 71-70 lead that they would not relinquish.
The team now has a quick turnaround against Miami, who is ranked No. 10 nationally and beat the Pack 84-77 on Jan. 27 in Coral Gables, Fla. The game is scheduled for 2 p.m. today in Greensboro Coliseum.
