NC State to learn from 4th quarter miscues vs. Vanderbilt
NC State women’s basketball did not allow more than 15 points in any of the first 3 quarters against Vanderbilt. It held a 26-point lead in the fourth period before the Commodores erased that advantage.
The SEC program cut the Wolfpack lead to 8 with 1:02 in the game. NC State still left Reynolds Coliseum with a 70-62 win Wednesday night, but the program was not happy with the effort in the final period. Vanderbilt outscored NC State 26-6 to wrap up the game, forcing 4 turnovers.
Head coach Wes Moore said his team needs to learn that this is a 40 minute game and improve clock management. Junior point guard Saniya Rivers, who helped build the Wolfpack lead with 22 points and 8 rebounds against the Commodores, discussing the team’s mentality going into that quarter.
“That was a tough team, a well-coached, well-disciplined team, and we just came into the fourth quarter like we had it in the bag,” Rivers said.
Vanderbilt and NC State came into this game 7-0 on the year.
Rivers critiqued her own play in the final period. She finished with 2 turnovers in he period and stressed that she was too lackadaisical with the ball against some full-court pressure against Vanderbilt. The Commodores deployed some traps and even doubled NC State’s point guard at times.
Moore said the Pack does not mind running the floor and playing fast, but he does not like how the squad handled Vanderbilt’s extra pressure. He said NC State played into the Commodores hand and, for the first time this season, took some bad shots.
“We didn’t seem to care for the pressure that much,” Moore said. “Good teams are going to get after you, especially Power Five teams. They’re going to get up in you and try to frustrate you, get you out of your game.”
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Graduate center River Baldwin recorded her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds in this SEC/ACC challenge clash, but she echoed a similar sentiment.
“We got nonchalant,” Baldwin said. “You’ve got to know time and score is really important, but we’ve been talking about stay hungry and stay together. You can’t settle, you can’t get comfortable, even in the fourth quarter when you’re up 26 because a team like that is scrappy. They’re not going to lay down.”
At the final buzzer, NC State still ended up with the victory. Moore said the team recognizes that the final 10 minutes of this contest, which included a 12-2 run in the final 3:46, is not good enough. Rivers called the fourth quarter embarrassing.
Both her and the head coach acknowledged that the Wolfpack’s new ranking carries some weight. Moore said the No. 5 Pack will get each team’s best every night. Rivers said the number next to their name does not matter, but the program does need to continuously show why it is a top-five squad in the country.
“We have to keep proving why we earned that spot,” Rivers said. “We can’t have games like that, letting teams come back in.”
