Wes Moore records win No. 800, NC State advances in ACC Tournament
NC State made the first step towards a potential fourth-consecutive ACC Tournament Championship Thursday afternoon, defeating No. 9 Syracuse 83-58 and securing career win No. 800 for head coach Wes Moore.
River Baldwin helped transform the No. 8-seeded Wolfpack’s offense off the bench to start the game against No. 9 Syracuse, and Aziaha James took over in the third quarter. This was NC State’s first 80-point game since Jan. 8.
Camille Hobby, one game after scoring a season-high 21 points against Pittsburgh, and Jakia Brown-Turner, each led the Pack with 16 points. NC State scored 54 points in the paint and won the rebounding battle 41-23. A total of 5 Wolfpack athletes finished the game in double figures.
NC State started the first quarter with 2 turnovers on its first 3 possessions, and Syracuse jumped out to an early 6-0 lead. Moore responded by quickly subbing in Baldwin, and the graduate student center scored 8 points in the opening period on perfect 4 for 4 shooting while also pulling down a pair of offensive rebounds..
“I thought she had an outstanding game,” Moore said.
Baldwin’s presence on the interior helped collapse the defense and lead to some open looks and driving lanes. Brown-Turner hit a 3 and finished with 5 points in the opening period. Jada Boyd added 4 points as well. Syracuse hit its first 3 shots from the field, but turnovers helped keep the Wolfpack in the game early.
Madison Hayes played great on both ends of the court throughout the game. She opened the second quarter with a steal and a layup, finishing the period with 5 points and holding Syracuse superstar Dyaisha Fair to 1 of 4 shooting from the field. Fair finished the loss 4 of 17 with 11 points.
“Well, I definitely have to say Madison locked her down,” Brown-Turner said. “We know she’s a great player, a great scorer, but we just had to help on her.”
“I think I would rate my defense a solid 9 out of 10,” Hayes said. “I thought I could have done better on a couple of possessions, not just me but Saniya as well. She did a great job as well. We have to be in the gaps and help each other out as a team, and that’s what we did the whole game.”
Despite only converting 38-percent of its field goals over the first 2 periods, the Orange remained within striking distance. The No. 9-seeded opponents forced 9 Wolfpack turnovers in the first half and scored 13 points from those opportunities. Syracuse turned the ball over 8 times, leading to 7 points by the Pack.
NC State led 32-26 at halftime.
Baldwin finished with 10 points over the first 20 minutes. She did not miss a shot, and 6 of NC State’s 8 active players scored at least 4 points. All-ACC guard Diamond Johnson missed the game with an ankle injury.
Syracuse cut the Wolfpack’s lead to 3 early in the third quarter, but NC State took control from there behind a statsheet-stuffing period by James. The sophomore started the game slow, turning the ball over 3 times in the first half, but she scored 6 points, grabbed 2 rebounds and dished out 3 assists over the next 10 minutes.
“[I] told her you can either get down and have a bad day or pick yourself back up and let’s go out here and rewrite another chapter,” Moore said. “I thought, [in] the second half, she did a great job for the most part, making good decisions and distributing the ball. At the end of the day, she had five assists and four turnovers, [and] hit some big shots for us. She’s super talented and just has so much potential.”
Going into the fourth quarter, NC State led 55-44.
Hobby scored 12 points in 12 second-half minutes Thursday, including a team-leading 8 in the final period. A 9-0 run by the Wolfpack helped balloon the lead to 20, and NC State controlled the game from there.
NC State will rest up for fewer than 24 hours, returning to Greensboro Coliseum Friday at 2 p.m. for a matchup against No. 1-seeded Notre Dame.
“Every year, we come here, it’s a new season,” Moore said. “We wipe the board. We come here, everybody is equal, let’s go get it.”
