The NC State women’s basketball team pulled off a dramatic upset of No. 9 Louisville on the road in the KFC Yum! Center, defeating the Cardinals in overtime, 72-70. The Wolfpack improved to 17-6 (7-3 ACC) on the season with the win.
The team overcame a ton of problems to get its fourth win over a top-15 team this season. The Pack got off to a slow start to say the least. Some of the more consistent players this season didn’t have a great game. Foul trouble haunted State all night as key bigs and juniors Chelsea Nelson and Akela Maize made early exits after picking up their fifths fouls. Yet, these women still found a way to get big time scores when it needed them the most, the biggest of which was senior guard Miah Spencer’s game-winning buzzer beater in overtime.
In the first quarter, the game was only close for the first three minutes, as Louisville held a slight 7-6 advantage. However, freshman Kylee Shook and junior Mariyah Moore led the Cardinals on a 17-4 run to close out the quarter with a commanding 24-10 lead. Moore finished with 20 points as she kept the momentum going throughout the game. Initially, the Wolfpack seemed doomed for the worst.
During the second and third quarters of play, the Pack settled into the hostile environment. NC State applied the defensive pressure it’s known for and the offense followed suit. The Wolfpack won quarters two and three by a combined score of 42-21. Maize had a career-high 11 points, the majority of which came in these two periods.
In the final quarter, the Cards took advantage of the Pack’s foul troubles in more ways than one. Louisville took advantage of its trips to the free-throw line, finishing 76 percent from there.
Sophomore Asia Durr led all scorers with 25 points, 10 of which came from the line. Beyond that, Durr was able to use the lack of available bigs for State to her advantage as she constantly attacked the basket. Despite the advantage, Louisville barely made up the deficit; redshirt senior Dominique Wilson hit Maize down low for what looked to be the game winner; however, Durr was fouled and knocked down both free throws to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Overtime was just as tight as regulation, as neither team led by more than five in this extra quarter. Spencer took over in overtime, scoring six of her 22 points, including the game winner, when she hit a floater off the backboard that rattled around the rim before going in. The team’s last possession wasn’t a microcosm of the game. It wasn’t polished but it got the job done.
The Wolfpack will continue its road tour in Atlanta Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. to take on Georgia Tech.
