The NC State women’s basketball team defeated East Tennessee State in a defensive slugfest by a final score of 70-58 on Thursday night in Reynolds Coliseum.
The Pack (9-2) led 22-9 after the first quarter while shooting 50 percent, but then struggled to score while shooting 30 percent for the remaining three quarters. However, the Pack’s defense held the Buccaneers to 31 percent shooting, 3 of 19 from three-point range and forced 19 turnovers.
“That was as fun as a root canal,” head coach Wes Moore said. “Just one of those nights.”
Sophomore guards Lucky Rudd and Aislinn Konig led the Pack’s offensive attack with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Konig made three 3-pointers while Rudd hit two from behind the arc.
As a team, NC State shot 6 of 24 from three-point range. Rudd went 4 of 4 from the free throw line to help NC State finish the game. Thursday was the sixth-consecutive game that Konig hit at least three three-pointers.
“I get a lot of good passes from my teammates; they set me up really well,” Konig said. “They set me up for those opportunities to shoot and a lot of time practicing my shot allows me to hit my shot, and if I can keep going that would be great.”
Senior forward Chelsea Nelson tallied her fourth double-double of the season, despite being plagued with foul trouble. She finished the game with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 20 minutes.
Sophomore forward Erika Cassell had a career-high 10 points to go along with seven rebounds for the Pack coming off the bench.
“We have [Cassell] come off the bench that you can trust to rebound and take care of the ball,” Konig said. “It’s all a growing process; she’s improving very quickly. Our trust in her is growing quickly.”
Redshirt junior guard Armani Hawkins made her first appearance as a member of the Pack after transferring from Arizona State. She played one minute and did not score.
The Buccaneers won the rebounding battle 46-44, but the Pack had 17 second-chance points, while East Tennessee State only had five.
“We weren’t boxing out at all,” Nelson said. “Everybody was leaking or everybody was watching only two people go to the boards.”
NC State led by 21 points halfway through the second quarter but the Bucs eventually cut the Pack lead to five at 54-50 with 5:47 to go in the final quarter. East Tennessee never got any closer and the Pack hit its free throws to salt the game away. Overall, the Pack hit 18-30 free throws, after starting 4-13 from the line.
“It’s another area we’ve really tried to focus on in practice,” Moore said. “I keep saying it; I think free throw shooting is contagious, either good or bad.”
The Pack returns to action on Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum against Elon University. The game will tip at 6 p.m.
