Junior guard Diamond Johnson led all scorers with 18, and senior center Camille Hobby wasn’t far behind with 16 as the No. 10 NC State women’s basketball team easily took care of Elon 89-55 in the team’s second game of the season.
The Wolfpack (2-0) never trailed in this one, forcing 23 turnovers by the Phoenix (0-2) and getting a total of 11 players on the court.
“A lot of people were able to get out there and show what they can do,” said head coach Wes Moore. “We’re still trying to figure out roles and minutes. It’s a work in progress because in a lot of ways, we have a new team. It’s good to have these games at home where we can figure it out.”
The Pack was able to force turnovers and get easy baskets early, forcing five turnovers in the first four minutes to go up 13-4, leading to an Elon timeout. NC State led by as many as 12 in the first quarter, but the Phoenix kept the game from getting out of hand as the Pack led by nine after the first 10 minutes.
NC State extended the lead in the second quarter, going on a 12-2 run to close the half and taking a 43-23 advantage into halftime. A big reason for the Pack’s success in the first half was the play of Hobby, who scored 12 points on 4-4 from the field, including a nice 3-pointer off the glass in the first quarter.
“In our system, what we do, it’s important that our post player can score,” Moore said. “We do a lot of four-out, one-in, and we basically let the defense pick their poison. If they double, we hope that we got four people around that post that can shoot 3s, knock down 3s, and if they don’t help, we need a post player that can score one-on-one. Obviously Camille did a great job of that tonight, and we need that on a consistent basis.”
The third quarter was a bit shakier for the Pack, only outscoring Elon 22-20 as the Phoenix shot 69.2% in the quarter alone. However, NC State closed it out strong, doubling up Elon 24-12 in the fourth to win comfortably.
After scoring eight points on just 3-11 from the field in the season-opener against Quinnipiac, Johnson was back to her regular self tonight, shooting 7-11 from the field and adding three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
“I didn’t let Monday affect me because we’ve got a long season,” Johnson said. “I just focused more on finishing my layups, shooting the ball well and getting my teammates involved.”
NC State still appears to be shaking off some early season rust but is finding ways to win.
“It’s getting better, but we’ve still got work to do,” Moore said. “I thought our transition D was poor, we had some people in the first half not going to the offensive boards. We’re just not going to be able to get away with [that]. We’re gonna be woke up in a hurry.”
In addition to the stellar play from Johnson and Hobby, junior guard Madison Hayes and sophomore guard Jessica Timmons stepped up to help the Pack defeat the Phoenix.
Hayes has played important minutes to start the season due to her versatile skill set, and she opened up the scoring with a clean crossover that put her in position for an open jumper. She played 26 total minutes, pouring in 11 points.
“[I’m] getting in the gym, working on my shot,” Hayes said. “I’m already aggressive on defense, just trying to be a two-way player for our team.”
Timmons was again a spark off the bench in this one, putting up a solid stat line of seven points, one rebound, two assists and two steals. She has shown she is capable of playing off the ball and as the primary ball handler of the second unit.
“She’s shooting it well, she’s under control,” Moore said. “No turnovers and two steals, so yeah, you’ve got to like what she’s doing.”
Sophomore guard Saniya Rivers checked into the game late in the first quarter in relief of Johnson. Rivers used her length to turn defense into offense, turning in a block, two steals and a team-leading seven rebounds.
“She’s fitting in really well, and she has unbelievable vision,” Moore said. “If you hadn’t noticed, she’s really good at finding people.”
Next up, NC State will host Mount St. Mary’s in Reynolds Coliseum at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13. That’s the first of two more home games before the Pack plays a highly anticipated game at UConn on Nov. 20.
