The NC State women’s basketball team continued its undefeated start to the season Sunday, trouncing Davidson 58-42 at Broughton High School’s Holiday Gymnasium.

The Wolfpack (5-0) dominated the Wildcats (1-2) but suffered a key blow in the win, with junior guard Miah Spencer departing the game with a thumb injury.

Moore said she will be evaluated by team doctors for a torn ligament in her thumb today, with severity yet to be determined. Losing Spencer for any period of time would be a big blow for the Wolfpack, as she is averaging 13.5 points per game this season. Her injury comes shortly after losing freshman Kaila Ealey to a knee injury, further depleting the team.

“The hits just keep coming,” Moore said. “It’s been a very emotional week, a very tough week. And on top of all that we’ve obviously played a lot of games in a short period. But, our kids have found a way to survive, get through this tough stretch.”

Junior Jennifer Mathurin led the team with 15 points on 50 percent shooting, including making 3 of her 5 three point attempts. Junior Dominique Wilson added 13 points and freshman Amber Richardson scored 11 points on 50 percent shooting, including 3 of 5 from downtown — her first game with double-digit points.

“My team helped me out, giving me confidence that I can go out on the floor and contribute for the team,” Richardson said.

This game was the latest in a string of good performances for Mathurin, who’s averaging 14.3 points per game so far this season.

“She’s playing really well, doing a lot of the dirty work,” Moore said. “She’s crashing the boards, taking charges. [Mathurin’s] very active obviously.”

The game got off to a slow start as both teams combined for seven points in the first 2:30 of the first quarter. However, from that point the teams combined for 20 points in a fast-paced opening quarter in which State outscored Davidson 19-8.

The Wolfpack controlled play in the second, going on a 7-4 run through the first six minutes and outscoring Davidson 12-8 for the quarter for a 31-18 halftime lead.

The team was shot out of cannon coming out of the half, going on a  6-0 run a little over a minute in on a jump shot by Wilson and layups by Mathurin and Schuhmacher. State smothered Davidson’s offense in the third quarter, not allowing a field goal until there was 2:14 left.

Richardson did much of her damage in the game’s final quarter, getting seven points off two threes and layup and leading the Wolfpack on an 11-7 run to kill any chance of a comeback by Davidson and wrap up the victory.

Head coach Wes Moore praised his freshman’s accuracy from beyond the arc.

“I think Amber’s pretty confident when she’s shooting the three,” Moore said. “She did some good things today in other areas of her game. I thought she was very good defensively. She needs to help us more on the boards — she has great size, she’s very athletic. It was great to see her get hot offensively, get some confidence; hopefully that will carry over to other parts of her game.”

The Wolfpack did not shoot the ball well as a team, however, shooting 32 percent from the field.

“We’re not shooting the ball well right now,” Moore said. “We’ll break down the film and decide how much of that is shot selection. Without Miah [Spencer] in there we sometimes had a hard time running an offense. We need to spend more time making sure we know the offense.”

Despite limiting Davidson’s offense, the Pack struggled on the glass and was outrebounded 42-40. Senior center Carlee Schumacher led the team with eight. The team did force 20 turnovers and hold Davidson to 30 percent from the field, but Moore is still looking for a bit more consistency defensively.

“We did some good things, we’re playing hard,” Moore said. We had a little trouble defending on the block. We’re going to have to help our post a little more than we did, especially early in the game. We’re still not turning them over as much as I like. We did get several today, but I’d like to get even more forced turnovers that would lead to some instant offense. I think that would really help this team, but you can’t argue with the numbers.”

The team will next head to Cancun, Mexico for the Cancun challenge, where it will tip off against Seton Hall next Thursday.