Wolfpack Upset Top-Ranked Cardinals
LOUISVILLE, KY –NC State ends Louisville’s 16-game winning as the Wolfpack took down the Cardinals 74-60 in the KFC Yum Cneter in Louisville, Kentucky Monday evening. This comes after the Wofpack had their 11-game win streak snapped last week against the Virginia Tech Hokies. The Wolfpack were without star post-player Elissa Cunane in that contest.
Coming into this contest, the Wolfpack sit at the top of the ACC in field-goal percentage (7th nationally, 48.6%), field-goal percentage defense (19th in the NCAA,34.7%) and rank second in scoring margin (15th Nationally,+18.7) For the Cardinals, Dana Evans leads the ACC in scoring, as she has been averaging 19.5 points per game this year.
Throughout the first few minutes of the game, the scoring went back and forth before the Wolfpack went on a cold stretch, only connecting on one of five shots. Throughout this span, the Cardinals went on a 7-2 run to jump out to an 11-9 lead at the 3:32 mark left in the first quarter. The next few minutes went back and forth before Raina Perez knocked down a three pointer to tie the game at 18 at the end of the first quarter. The Wolfpack scored 12 of their 18 first quarter points in the paint.
The second quarter was sloppy from both teams, as both the Cardinals and the Wolfpack struggled from the field and turned the ball over multiple times. The Wolfpack did not score a point for over five and a half minutes and the Cardinals did not score a point for five minutes. The teams combined to shoot a dreary 23% from the field in the second quarter as the Wolfpack shot 4-17 (23.5%) and the Cardinals shot 3-13 (23.1%) from the field. There were 10 combined turnovers in the second quarter.
At the half, the Wolfpack held a four-point, 29-25 lead. The Cardinals were led by Dana Evans with ten points and the Wolfpack were led by Raina Perez with ten points and Elissa Cunane with seven points and five rebounds. The teams combined for just 11 assists compared to 13 turnovers, through the first three quarters.
Coming out of the half, the Wolfpack came out strong, as they went on a 6-0 run over a minute and a half, to jump out to a ten-point, 41-31 lead at the 4:52 mark left in the third quarter. After Hailey Van Lith scored four points for Cardinals early in the third quarter, the Cardinals struggled from the field, as they didn’t connect on any field goals for three and a half minutes.
The Wolfpack were able to hold off the Cardinals strong surge to finish the third quarter to lead 49-44 at the end of the quarter. Dana Evans scored seven of the Cardinals final ten points to give her 17 through three quarters.
To start the fourth quarter, Jakia Brown-Turner scored five of the Wolfpack’s seven points as NC State outscored Louisville 7-2 in the first minute and a half. As the Cardinals went dry, the Wolfpack went on a 9-0 run over two minutes to jump the lead out to 18 with 4:19 remaining in the game.
As the Wolfpack tried to run the clock out, the Cardinals tried to fight back by going on a 13-4 run to cut the lead down to nine but the Wolfpack decided that was enough, as they didn’t let Cardinals get any closer.
The Cardinals were led by Dana Evans, with 29 points. The Wolfpack were led by Elissa Cunane with 16 points and six rebounds in her first game since January 3rd and Jakia Brown-Turner and Jada Boyd with 16 points each. The Wolfpack held the Cardinals to just seven fast-break points which is difficult to do against a Cardinals team that loves to run up and down the court.
“I’m really proud of our girls tonight. We played a fantastic Louisville team tonight and we played really hard,” head coach Wes Moore said following the victory.
NC State, (12-1, 7-1 ACC) look to keep the wins coming, as they take the short drive to Chapel Hill on Sunday February 7th to battle the Tar Heels.