NC State women’s basketball beats Georgia Tech, raises $324,087 for Kay Yow Cancer Fund
Monday at Reynolds Coliseum was a special night, with or without the basketball game.
That No. 5 N.C. State took care of business on the court was an extra cherry on top of the evening.
After a slow start, the Wolfpack took over against No. 11 Georgia Tech, thumping the Yellow Jackets, 59-48.
The game was secondary to what the fans came for. In the Wolfpack’s annual Play4Kay game, $324,087.75 was raised for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. At halftime, dozens of cancer survivors were honored. Among the honorees was Georgia Tech associate head coach Tasha Butts, who was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in November.
Fans in attendance wore pink t-shirts, and the team wore uniforms to match. After a slow start, N.C. State started seeing red. Georgia Tech jumped out to a 10-2 lead. The Pack found its groove, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 18-8 in the second. Georgia Tech started the first quarter 5-for-7 from the floor. The Yellow Jackets finished the game by going 15-of-50 from the field.
“That’s a Final Four team,” Yellow Jackets’ coach Nell Fortner said. “They are playing really good basketball right now.”
The N.C. State defense held Georgia Tech to single-digit scoring in the second and third quarters. The Yellow Jackets rolled into Raleigh with the top defense in the ACC (47.1 points per game). The Wolfpack, the top scoring team in the league, had no issues getting baskets.
Once the shots started falling, all Georgia Tech could do was watch. Diamond Johnson (team-high 12 points) sparked N.C. State, scoring eight quick points off the bench in the second quarter. At the half, the Pack led by eight.
“I just think this team likes a challenge,” Johnson said about the ability of N.C. State to battle back from deficits. “The third quarter is our quarter where we take off. The third quarter has always been good to us.”
N.C. State’s defense was locked in to start the third. Georgia Tech started the third quarter with eight empty possessions. During that same stretch, the Pack’s best player started to warm up. N.C. State center Elissa Cunane scored six quick buckets. The Wolfpack lead grew to as many as 22 in the third and 24 early in the fourth.
“Proud of the effort we gave to get back in it,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. “The energy, the urgency we still have to get that for 40 minutes, we have to put that together.”
Georgia Tech arrived in Raleigh with a defense that held opponents to 32% from the field and 26% from 3, both tops in the league. All N.C. State did was shoot 43% from the floor and 30% from 3, making the Yellow Jackets defense look pedestrian.
In four home games against ranked ACC opponents this season, the Pack remains perfect. N.C. State has been dominant in those games, outscoring UNC, Duke, Louisville and now Georgia Tech, 283-212.
“Expectations are so high,” Moore said. “We want to get here (raises hand) and we want to get here (raises hand higher). I’m never going to be completely happy, but for three quarters tonight, pretty good.”
With just two more home games remaining, the Pack won’t face another ranked opponent at Reynolds. N.C. State has won 15 consecutive ACC games at home. Monday night, the Pack snapped a five-game Georgia Tech win streak. The Yellow Jackets tied their season-low for points in a game.
Wolfpack shows its tough side
N.C. State is the highest-scoring team in the ACC at 76.3 points per game. It’s the defensive end of the court where Moore wants to see improvement.
The Pack held the Yellow Jackets to 35% shooting from the floor. Georgia Tech scored a combined 15 points in the second and third quarters after scoring 14 in the first.
Moore knew that the Yellow Jackets were one of the more physical teams in the ACC heading into Monday’s game. After the win, Fortner credited the Pack for being tougher, “punching” her team in the mouth in Raleigh. Heading into the final month of season, Moore knows those intangibles are what it’s going to take.
“The thing that impressed me (about Georgia Tech) was their toughness, their physicality,” Moore said. “That’s what I kept drilling to our team. I told our team this is going to be our ‘let’s get physical week.’ I thought for the most part we did a pretty good job of handling that.”
N.C. State won the rebounding battle (39-30) against a bigger Yellow Jackets front court. The Pack also had more points in the paint (32-24).
Georgia Tech turned the ball over six times and missed four shots before scoring its first points of the third quarter. By the time the Jackets got on the board did, N.C. State was up by 16.
“We knew we had to be physical as well,” Johnson said. “We knew we had to hold our ground and slow their post (play) down. We knew defense would be key to this game. We just locked in.”
Johnson takes pride hearing Fortner mentioned that N.C. State was the tougher team.
“That’s very good coming from them,” Johnson said. “They are a very strong team. We just had to fight more than we normally do.”
This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 7:54 PM.
