Leslie leads Wolfpack over Wake Forest for 21st straight

Jake Caccavaro, Staff Writer • January 31, 2019

Graduate guard Kiara Leslie drives toward the basket against Virginia Tech on Sunday, Jan. 20 at Reynolds Coliseum. Leslie recorded a game-high 25 points along with seven rebounds in the Wolfpack’s 70-61 overtime win.

Behind a game-high 23 points from graduate forward Kiara Leslie, the No. 7 NC State women’s basketball team beat Wake Forest 59-50 at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem.

Leslie hit eight of 16 shots from the field and 6 of 8 free throws to go along with five rebounds and two steals. With her 23 points, Leslie has now scored in double figures in 12 of her last 13 games.

With the win, the No. 7 Wolfpack (21-0, 8-0 ACC) extends its program-record winning streak to 21 games.

After racing out to a 30-17 lead at halftime, the Pack withstood a feisty second-half performance from the Demon Deacons (10-11, 1-7 ACC).

Wake Forest outscored NC State 31-29 in the second half and even cut the lead to just seven points with just over seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but back-to-back buckets by sophomore forward Kayla Jones and Leslie pushed the Pack’s lead to 11 points and sealed the win.

Sophomores Ivana Raca (8 for 17) and Gina Conti (5 for 12) scored 17 and 15 points, respectively, but the Wolfpack defense held the rest of the Wake Forest team to just 7-of-21 shooting.

For the fifth time in its last six games, the Wolfpack was held to under 70 points, but once again its defense was suffocating.

The Wolfpack defense forced 11 turnovers, scoring 12 points off of them, and blocked two shots as it held its opponent to fewer than 70 points for the 16th straight game and 20th time on the season.

Jones finished with eight rebounds, one rebound shy of her career high as she dominated the Demon Deacons down low. Junior guard Aislinn Konig scored 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers for the Pack.

All game long the Wolfpack drew fouls and got to the free throw line. Leslie and freshman center Elissa Cunane led the pack with eight trips to the free-throw line each, and senior forward DD Rogers (3 for 6), junior forward Erika Cassell (2 for 4) and sophomore guard Kai Crutchfield (0 for 4) all got to the line at least four times.

With the win, NC State maintains its one-game conference lead over No. 3 Louisville and No. 5 Notre Dame, with a game against each coming up in February.

The Wolfpack will be back in action on Sunday, Feb. 3 when it takes on UNC-Chapel Hill at 2 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum.