NC State women’s basketball put the pedal to the metal on Thursday night and left its recent heartbreak in the rearview mirror.
The Wolfpack (16-7, 9-3 ACC) left no doubt in this contest, leading by 23 after 10 minutes and carrying on to an 83-55 win over Florida State (7-16, 2-9 ACC). NC State jumped Florida State with an intense and physical defense, tallying 12 steals, forcing 15 turnovers and holding the Seminoles to 23 points in the first half. That defense led to offense as NC State put together a 34-point first quarter and had 22 points off turnovers for the game.
Sophomore guard Zam Jones fueled the team’s huge first quarter by scoring NC State’s first 12 points. She let it fly when she was open, but also when she wasn’t, and shot 5-of-8 from 3 on her 25-point night.
“I’m confident in my shot, my teammates are confident finding me when I’m open, and I’ll just knock down the shot,” Jones said.
NC State was more aggressive on both ends than in its last game, and the Seminoles couldn’t handle a jumped-up Wolfpack defense as much as they couldn’t keep the Wolfpack from getting to the basket.
“We came out with a lot of energy and defensively we were flying around, but we were pretty disciplined,” Moore said.
Minutes into the game, NC State had already shot more free throws than it did against North Carolina, where it attempted just two. The team finished shooting 12-of-14 from the free-throw line, right at its average of 12 makes per game.
“I definitely thought we were more aggressive, I thought we should have shot more free throws the other night too, but we could have been more aggressive,” Moore said. “Tonight was better.”
The Wolfpack’s one shortcoming came on the defensive glass, where it gave up 19 offensive rebounds to Florida State. Much of that was caused by not boxing out after committing multiple defenders to a drive, but the Seminole’s tall roster also contributed.
“I’m not gonna make excuses, I feel like we just need to toughen up, just box out,” Jones said. “But I mean they are tall, me down there I’m 5-foot-6 trying to box out 6-foot-6, I don’t know how much I can do down there, but I’m at least trying.”
Even on a quiet scoring night, junior forward Khamil Pierre grabbed 18 rebounds. She still leads the conference in rebounding with 12.1 per game, and her ability to jump and fight for rebounds gives the team leeway on both ends of the floor.
“Every game she has a double double, so that obviously helps us a lot, not just on the defensive side but she also gets the offensive rebounds,” Brooks said.
A gauntlet of road games lies ahead for the Wolfpack, which has taken care of business at home and is on the hunt for resume-defining wins that’ll earn an NCAA tournament bid.
“We got three really tough ones on the road … that’s a key stretch right here,” Moore said. “We’re gonna have to play really well. We’re gonna have to play with some toughness.”
The gauntlet starts in Blacksburg, where NC State hasn’t won in four years. Tipoff against Virginia Tech is at noon on Sunday, Feb. 8.
