The NC State Women’s Basketball team defeated the College of Charleston Cougars Saturday 91-47 in Reynolds Coliseum. The win improved the Wolfpack to 3-0 this season.
The teams rugged defense helped the starting lineup keep a positive plus minus ratio as they started the game with three turnovers in their first four possessions. However they only allowed two points while scoring four points off of turnovers in that same span.
When asked about the sluggish play to being the game senior Miah Spencer personally took the brunt of the blame.
“We just didn’t come out ready to play honestly and I feel like as a senior and as a captain that’s a little bit my fault,” Spencer said. “We have to come out from the beginning setting the tone. I feel like that’s something we didn’t do. We had three turnovers in the first couple of minutes. We can’t do that against good teams.”
The turnovers are indicative of the fact that the Cougars’ zone gave the Pack offense trouble early. State’s offense was heavily reliant upon jumpers that simply weren’t falling. Senior Dominique Wilson had six assists but did not make a field goal attempt. The team shot 2 for 10 behind the arc in the first quarter.
Fortunately for the Wolfpack it served as the catalyst for their offense early. State lead 20-11 after the first quarter. Freshman Aislinn Konig and sophomore Akela Maize accounted for 12 of the team’s 20 first quarter points with six each. Akela Maize scored her seven points in her first eight minutes on court. Konig scored 15 points which was tied for the lead with senior Miah Spencer. Those two alone outscored College of Charleston’s bench 12-3.
Spencer also had a ton to say when asked what the talented bench means to the team.
“I remember playing 40 minutes almost every game last year and it’s not easy,” Spencer said. “Having someone come off the bench like Kaila [Ealy,] Erika [Cassell]and Nae Nae [Cole] is great. Nae Nae did really well tonight. It’s good to have that spark. In past years, we didn’t have anyone to come in and give us that spark that we needed.”
After the bench brought some much needed energy to the court the starters continued their momentum in the second half. They opened up the third quarter with a 15-0 run. Senior Ashley Williams began to make her presence known at this point in the game. She went 3 for 3 from 3-point range in the third.
“That’s two games in a row we’ve come out in the third period and really made a run,” head coach Wes Moore said. “I think here tonight, we did a good job of making stops in the second half which allowed us to run into transition. We were able to get some fast break points which I think kind of jump started us and gave us some momentum.”
By the end of the third quarter the Pack had this game under control. The team lead 76-33 at end of the period.
All in all the Pack did not play its sharpest game but the team still dominated tonight. They’ll be back in Reynolds to take on Maryland Eastern Shore Monday night.
