No. 22 NC State wins defensive battle at Wake Forest
Saniya Rivers slotted into the starting lineup for NC State’s road matchup against Wake Forest and was a key contributor in the program’s 51-42 win Thursday night. The Wolfpack held to the hosts to 13 points-or-fewer in all 4 quarters, which proved to be the difference, as neither team shot above 34 percent from the field.
Behind some impressive fast break buckets, Rivers paced the team with 12 points, including 8 in the third quarter, and she tied Aziaha James with a Pack-leading 6 rebounds.
The first quarter was a defensive battle, and the opening period score finished tied at 9. NC state made a concerted effort to get the ball inside, leading to 5 early points for Camille Hobby.
Wake Forest started the second quarter with a couple of easy buckets and opened up a 7-2 lead on the offensive glass. Just a few minutes into the quarter, the Wolfpack woke up and retook the lead 17-16 on a layup by Jakia Brown-Turner.
After building a 10-2 run, NC State missed five-consecutive shots to end the second quarter, wrapping up the period on a 2:53 scoring drought. Wake Forest came into Thursday’s showdown ranking last in the ACC with 10 offensive rebounds per game. The Demon Deacons grabbed 10 in the first half alone.
Despite the cold finish, the Pack took a 23-22 lead into the halftime locker room. James was, once again, a massive source of energy on the court and led the team with 6 points and 4 rebounds at the break. Diamond Johnson made a serious impact on defense in the first two periods, swiping 3 steals to go along with 3 rebounds and 4 points.
NC State did a great job slowing down Wake Forest guard Jewel Spear, who is one of the top scorers in the conference. She shot 3 of 13 in the first half and 0 of 4 from deep. With that said, the junior still made a impact with 3 offensive rebounds. Spear finished the matchup 5 of 24 from the field thanks to great defense from Rivers and Madison Hayes.
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In the second half, NC State opened up an early 7-0 run thanks to some tremendous transition offense by Rivers. Wake Forest hit a layup less than a minute into the period and did not score again for more than 4 minutes. That scoring drought helped the Pack build its lead to as many as 11, but the Demon Deacons went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 38-32 going into the fourth quarter.
The Wolfpack maintained its defensive pressure in the final period. Wake Forest scored 1 point in the first 5 minutes and shot 0 of 8 from the field. Even with the fantastic defensive effort by the Wolfpack, the game remained within striking distance for the Demon Deacons thanks to 4 turnovers by NC State. In the first three quarters, the visitors took care of the ball and only turned it over 10 times overall.
NC State missed all 10 three-point attempts against the Demon Deacons but finished the fourth quarter 8 of 10 from the free throw line, which helped hold off the hosts, and the Wolfpack handed Wake Forest its second home loss of the year.
Thursday’s win snaps a two-game losing streak for the Pack and improves the program’s record to 7-6 in the ACC and 17-7 overall. NC State returns to the court on the road Sunday, Feb. 12 at 12 p.m. against UVA.
