Wolfpack roll past Eagles with dominant performance

It was one of those nights when everything went right for N.C. State.

Miah Spencer’s 17 points led three players in double figures as the Wolfpack rolled over Boston College 76-60 in the nightcap of the ACC tournament Thursday night at Greensboro Coliseum.

No. 6 seed State (20-10) advanced to Friday’s 8 p.m. quarterfinal nightcap against No. 3 seed Syracuse (23-6), which is ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press poll. Syracuse is on a nine-game winning streak. The Orange won the teams’ regular-season meeting 55-52 Valentine’s Day at Holliday Gym.

Jennifer Mathurin added 15 points and Dominique Wilson 14 for N.C. State.

“Our kids came out and hit a lot of shots and got a lot of momentum and a lot of energy,” Wolfpack coach Wes Moore said. “We had a lot of games this season where we had gotten in a hole early. It was good to see our kids come out and respond and play well in this atmosphere. It made my job a little bit easier. They made plays and it was fun to see.”

Boston College, which was the No. 14 seed, ended its season at 15-16. State had won the regular-season meeting with the Eagles 74-63 on Feb. 11 at Holliday Gym.

The Eagles were never closer than 11 points after the first quarter. The score was 67-42 after three periods.

The Wolfpack shot 44.3 percent to 41.2 for the Eagles, won the rebound battle 36-30 and committed nine turnovers to Boston College’s 15.

“I think our quickness helped us get going,” Mathurin said. “Like coach said, we could have had a disadvantage not having played yesterday. I feel like we got our advantage from running and from steals, and from that point on I think we had the game under control.”

And before the game Ashley Williams, the junior out of Green Hope High, won the Kay Yow Award as the conference’s most outstanding student-athlete in women’s basketball. Williams finished with eight points.

Kelly Hughes had 16 points and Nicole Boudreau 14 for the Eagles.

“You can’t be shocked with how good N.C. State is,” Boston College coach Erik Johnson said. “I was shocked that we weren’t able to migrate to those things. I felt like we made some good defensive adjustments, but you could say there was a bit of a shock factor that they were able to adjust to our adjustments and push right through it.”

Everything went right for the Wolfpack and wrong for the Eagles in the first half, as State led 42-18 at intermission. Spencer had 12 points and Wilson 10 at halftime. State was shooting 48.3 percent to the Eagles’ 34.8, winning the rebound battle 20-12 and the points off turnovers line 16-0.

“One thing we had talked about was being focused at the beginning of the game,” Spencer said. “We didn’t want to let down if they started hitting their shots.”

State took over from the outset, leading 18-3 following a Spencer layup with 4:10 left in the quarter and holding a 25-7 lead at the quarter break. Spencer and Wilson each had eight points in the first quarter.

NOTES - The Wolfpack has won all three tournament meetings with BC 3-0, with victories in 2010 and 2011. ... State leads the all-time series with the Eagles 13-8.

▪ The Wolfpack won all three tournament meetings with the Eagles, with the other victories coming in 2010 and 2011.

▪ N.C. State leads the all-time series with the Eagles 13-8.

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 10:42 PM with the headline "Wolfpack roll past Eagles with dominant performance."