Photo Courtesy of IBD Photography
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Final Score: NC State 79 Kent State 51
November 14, 2024
Raleigh, NC- The #10/#13 Wolfpack women’s basketball team (2-1, 1-1 ACC) returned to action Thursday night fresh off the loss to the #1 South Carolina Sunday at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. NC. NC State played host to the Kent State Golden Flashes (1-2, 0-0 MAC) for just the 3rd time in program history.
The Wolfpack came in 2-0 against the Flashes winning by an average of 20.5 per game. Kent State came into the matchup picked to finish 2nd in the MAC as the Golden Flashes looked to improve upon their NCAA tournament appearance and MAC Championship 2023-2024 season. The Flashes are led by returning leading scorer Jenna Batsch who averaged 13.5 points per game last year. NC State has been led by Zoe Brooks and Aziaha James. Brooks. Brooks and James both are in double digits for the year with 16 points and 15 points per game respectively.
1st Quarter NC State 18 Kent State 14
NC State came out of the gates quickly with a 7-0 run over the course of the first 2 minutes of the quarter. Aziaha James earned 5 early points as she went 2-3 in the early going. Mallory Collier also chipped in 4 quick points of her own as the Wolfpack took an early 14-5 lead at the first media timeout.
The Flashes started hot early from behind the 3-point line going 4-9 including 3 straight 3’s out of the timeout to knot the game up at 14-14. The Wolfpack would end the quarter though on a 4-0 to finish with the 18-14 lead after the first. NC State would finish the quarter shooting 40% overall and 25% from 3. Kent state would finish 4-10 from 3-point land, but just 4-17 overall to finish shooting just 23.5% through the first quarter.
2nd Quarter NC State 33 Kent State 28
The Wolfpack extended the lead to 10 as Laci Steele scored 4 quick points during the early 8-3 run. NC State held a 26-17 lead at the first timeout. The 3-pointer proved to be the source of the Kent State scoring as 21 of their first 23 points came via the 3-point shot. NC State continued to win the battle in the paint as NC State would get 22 of their 33 points from inside the paint. Aziaha James remained hot leading the Pack with 10 first half points to eclipse the 1000-point milestone for her career.
NC State would finish the half shooting 41% from the field and 12-24 from inside the 3-point line. The Pack struggled from beyond the arc finishing 3-13. The Flashes finished 8-20 from 3 to keep the game tighter than expected.
3rd Quarter NC State 56 Kent State 44
Aziaha James continued to pour it on after the half as she continued her hot shooting. James finished the quarter with 18 points on 7-12 shooting. Mallory Collier was the 2nd leading scorer for the Pack with 8 points. The Wolfpack used a more balanced scoring attack in the first half of the quarter and carried a 52-37 lead at the under 5 media timeout.
Laci Steele would extend the lead to 16 with her 3rd field goal of the night giving her 7 points through the end of the 3rd quarter. NC State used some hot shooting on 4-7 from 3 and 8-16 overall. The Flashes cooled off from behind the arc as they finished 1-5 on 3’s and 4-13 overall. Thanks to some stingy defense by the Wolfpack, Kent State would see the lead grow to 15 until 3 late quarter free throws by Batsch would cut the lead to 12 heading into the 4th.
4th Quarter NC State 79 Kent State 51
NC State continued to push the lead early in the 4th quarter as a quick 7-0 run from the Pack made it 63-44 with 4:15 left in the game. Zamareya Jones put in 5 of the 7 points as she became more aggressive driving the lane and earning trips to the line and tough layups. Jones finished the game with 16 points and 3 assists.
Out of the timeout, NC State added another 7 points to the run to start the quarter. The Wolfpack would score the first 14 points of the quarter to extend the lead to 70-44. The Flashes would end their scoreless streak with 2 free throws to earn their first points of the quarter. The Wolfpack held Kent State to just 2-13 shooting in the 4th quarter and 1-3 from three.
Next up for NC State is a matchup with TCU in Ft Worth on Sunday at 2PM.
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