NC State remains undefeated with wire-to-wire win over Illinois Sate
An explosive third quarter by Aziaha James helped No. 5 NC State (9-0) women’s basketball remain undefeated Sunday afternoon. The junior guard scored 12 of her team-leading 16 points in the period, propelling the Pack to a 79-61 win over Illinois State.
Coming into this game, the Redbirds stood 6-1 on the year, led head coach Kristen Gillespie, who played for NC State’s 1998 final 4 team. Despite 11 made threes, their offense could not keep up with the Wolfpack.
Sunday’s contest started at an electric pace. Graduate center River Baldwin capitalized on a height advantage to score her first 8 points of the afternoon on 4 of 4 shooting going into the first media timeout. She finished the game with 14 points and 7 rebounds
Illinois State started the game hot from deep. Six of the Redbirds’ first seven shots were threes, and they made three of them to keep the game close. The visitors finished the quarter with just 2 field goal attempts inside the three-point line. NC State led 21-15 going into the second period after assisting on 6 of its 10 field goals.
The Wolfpack ratcheted up its defensive pressure in the final 10 minutes of the half. After forcing 5 turnovers in the opening quarter, Illinois State committed 4 miscues and only made 1 shot in the first 5:37 of the second, leading to a Redbirds timeout after the Pack opened up a 33-17 lead.
Once the Redbirds’ three-point shooting dropped to 16.7 percent in the second quarter, NC State took advantage. Freshmen bookended the Wolfpack’s first half scoring, with guards Laci Steele and Zoe Brooks both hitting threes to jump out to a 39-25 lead.
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Baldwin led the hosts at halftime with 12 points go go with 5 rebounds and a block. A total of 7 Wolfpack players scored at least 3 points, and NC State finished the first two quarters shooting 48.5 from the field and 9 forced turnovers
Both teams scored at a quick clip to start the second half. James led the Wolfpack, hitting a trio of threes to help grow the lead to 22. She finished the game with 4 assists and 3 rebounds to go along with her scoring portal.
Junior point guard Saniya Rivers set up 3 buckets in that quarter, 6 for the game, and hit a triple as well. The third quarter ended with a fastbreak bucket by James on an assist by freshman forward Maddie Cox.
NC State cooled off to start the fourth quarter, and Illinois State cut the lead to 17 at one point. Graduate forward Mimi Collins scored 4 of her 13 points to help stop that run and help the hosts maintain their lead. The Pack did not allow more than 18 points in a quarter.
After a week off, NC State returns to the court against Liberty Sunday, Dec. 10, at 2 p.m..
