After dropping its conference opener to Miami (FL), the NC State women’s basketball team has now won three straight in ACC play following a 65-57 home win over Georgia Tech Thursday night and a 78-76 triple-overtime victory at Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon.
Junior guard Dominique Wilson was excellent for the Wolfpack (12-5, 3-1 ACC), putting up a career-high 25 points against the Yellow Jackets (10-6, 0-3 ACC) and 21 against the Panthers (8-8, 0-3 ACC). Junior guard Miah Spencer was her usual productive self, putting up 14 against Georgia Tech and 21 against Pitt. Junior forward Jennifer Mathurin was a monster on the boards against Pitt, grabbing 17 total rebounds.
The team played decent defense in each game, holding the Yellow Jackets to 32 percent shooting and forcing 17 turnovers while holding the Panthers to 39 percent shooting and forcing 24 turnovers. The Wolfpack did not shoot very well itself in either game, shooting 37 percent against Georgia Tech and 33 percent against Pitt.
The game against Georgia Tech was a tight back-and-forth affair. The score was tied nine times, and there were 15 lead changes. The Pack started off slow, ultimately leading to a first half deficit. Georgia Tech went up 14-5 5:22 into the game and was up 28-26 at halftime, despite a 15-3 Wolfpack run that gave it a three-point lead with eight minutes left in the first half.
The Wolfpack found itself trailing 52-51 with about seven minutes left, but closed out the game with a 14-5 run to pick up its second ACC win.
The victory over Pittsburgh was a triple-overtime thriller. The team again started off slow against the Panthers, facing an identical early 14-5 early deficit to the win over the Yellow Jackets. However, the team was able to gain some momentum by ending the quarter on a 10-2 run to only be down 16-15 after the opening frame.
State was able to continue that run, outscoring Pitt 23-4 over a 12-minute stretch and ultimately leading 30-24 at the half.
The Wolfpack outscored Pittsburgh 15-13 in the third quarter for a 45-37 lead going into the game’s wild final quarter. State opened up a 51-43 lead about six minutes into the quarter, but Pitt would cut the deficit to three. Wilson then hit a three-pointer to put State back up by six, but Pitt answered quickly and was able to cut the deficit to one with 2:05 left. Spencer hit two free throws with nine seconds left to put State up 55-53, but Pitt was fouled with 0.2 seconds left and sank both free throws to send the game to overtime.
Spencer scored the first four points of overtime to put State up 59-55, but after some back-and-forth play, a Wilson free throw tied the game at 62 with 26 seconds left and sent the game to double overtime.
Senior center Carlee Schumacher hit two free throws to put the Pack up 66-64 with 20 seconds left in the second overtime, but Pitt managed to grab a bucket to tie it at 66 and Wilson missed a buzzer beater as the game headed to a third overtime.
A three by Wilson and steal and buckets by Spencer gave the Pack a 74-71 lead with 28 seconds left in a third crazy overtime period. Spencer then hit two free throws to extend the lead to 76-71 with 18 seconds left. Pitt would then grab a quick two points, followed by two more Spencer free throws. Pitt did hit one more three, but it was not enough as the Wolfpack prevailed 78-76 in a wild one.
The Wolfpack will get a few days off before heading to Durham to take on the Duke Blue Devils Thursday.
