NC State women’s basketball holds off rival UNC, 63-59, in battle of ranked teams

With 8.8 seconds remaining Thursday night, the N.C. State faithful at Reynolds Coliseum were loud, appreciative of the Wolfpack’s defensive effort down the stretch against rival North Carolina.

The No. 5 Pack reciprocated, stuffing the No. 24 Tar Heels on their final possession to secure a 63-59 ACC win.

The top-25 rivalry matchup between N.C. State (19-2, 8-2 ACC) and UNC (15-7, 7-3) lived up to its billing: The teams played with passion; the game featured two ties and four lead changes; and there was plenty of booing and trash talk.

“It’s just a great rivalry. You can see the history here, throughout each team,” N.C. State forward Mimi Collins said. “Us and North Carolina, we’re such great teams, so it was gonna be a battle. We knew that coming in; just knowing that it’s rivalry week. But understanding that and understanding the battle between the two, I think, it’s a great thing, and I think we were ready for it as a team.”

Collins and Saniya Rivers led the Wolfpack’s well-rounded scoring effort with 14 points each, two of four Pack players to score in double figures.

But apart from the scoring, N.C. State’s defense down the stretch made the biggest difference. The Pack held North Carolina scoreless on its final seven possessions — the final 3:45. N.C. State didn’t score a field goal in the final 5:45, either, but its lockdown defense was enough to secure the win.

“I’m a big believer that defense wins ball games, so whether we’re scoring or not, we know that we trust that our defense can win the game,” Rivers said. “I feel like it definitely won us that one, because we couldn’t really get the ball going for us at the end.”

Collins added seven rebounds to her 14 points, while Rivers had nine boards, four assists and two steals.

“When you get to the NCAA Tournament, you’ve got to win on a bad night,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. “You’re gonna have one. You’ve got to win four games to get to the Final Four against really good teams. The ACC Tournament, you’ve got to win three or four in a row. On a bad night, you’ve got to find a way to win. I said that’s why I’m proud of this team: defending and rebounding. They did a pretty good job, and to hold a really talented team over there to 59 is big time. It’s what we needed.”

UNC’s Deja Kelly led all scorers with 21 points. Alyssa Ustby and Maria Gakdeng both contributed a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double.

N.C. State finished 24 of 61 from the field and 3 of 16 from 3-point range. It made 12 of 16 from the free throw line, as well.

UNC shot 25 of 50 from the field and 4 of 18 from deep. The Tar Heels, however, only took five free throws in the loss.

The win pushed Wolfpack up to No. 3 in the ACC standings.

“There were elements of that game that was really a gift to just a women’s basketball, just two really good teams going at it,” UNC coach Courtney Banghart said. “There were elements of that game where we probably set it back. The 3-point line, I think both teams were not where we needed to be, clearly. But, you know, how great for women’s basketball. ... So, a shout out to our state for how we just keep showing up for women’s basketball.”

Here are three takeaways from the Triangle rivalry.

Questionable shot selection

The Wolfpack struggled to find an offensive rhythm in both halves. UNC’s defense deserves credit for part of that. The Tar Heels played with physicality and went toe-to-toe with N.C. State off the glass.

A number of the misses, however, came because of the Wolfpack’s questionable shot selection, where it often settled for mid-range jumpers., which accounted for 12 of the Pack’s 23 first-half misses. The Pack also missed seven 3-point shots.

N.C. State experienced a stretch in the first quarter where it missed seven straight shots. It weathered a period in the second quarter where it missed six in a row.

“We did settle for a lot of shots tonight,” Moore said. “I thought early in the game we settled for a lot of one-on-one jump shots, so hopefully we can at least sit down with them by position, look at some of those things and clean that up.”

N.C. State found the most success when it got into the lane. One great example of that came with 31 seconds to play in the first half, when Rivers recovered her own miss and cut to Mimi Collins with a wide open layup.

Rivers created a similar play again early in the third quarter, finding Aziaha James underneath the basket.

The Wolfpack made adjustments in the second half, which helped the scoring. It finished more consistently at the rim, 3-pointers started falling, and it stopped settling.

North Carolina refused to quit

The Tar Heels trailed by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, but they didn’t back down from a loud — and very red — Reynolds Coliseum.

UNC scored 24 points in the third quarter, outscoring the Wolfpack by six points, to cut N.C. State’s lead to one.

Then, Lexi Donarski opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a jumper and the Heels took their first lead since the first quarter. Reniya Kelly scored the Tar Heels’ last five points, finishing with seven.

Deja Kelly scored 15 points in the third quarter alone, going 5-for-8 from the field. She called it “takeover time.”

“Deja gets a lot of a lot of attention but what doesn’t get attention is the competitive spirit that she plays with, and the fearlessness that she plays with,” Banghart said. “These two [Deja Kelly and Ustby] epitomize what you want your kids to be.”

N.C. State went on a 9-0 run to retake its lead, but UNC kept the Wolfpack on its toes.

“The biggest thing to relay to my teammates is to believe in yourself,” Ustby said of her message to her teammates. “These are big moments on a big stage. We’re honored to be able to play an environment like this. It was a lot of fun, but just stepping up and making big shots when we need them.”

Aziaha James lifts Pack in second half

It can’t be understated how important Aziaha James is to the Wolfpack’s scoring efforts. James played just four minutes in the first half after getting called for her second foul four minutes into the game.

The junior kept things clean in the second half, though, playing 17 second-half minutes and scoring 10 points. Most of her buckets came at clutch moments.

Notably, James scored two consecutive layups — one on her own 3-point miss — in the fourth quarter to help the Pack retake the lead, 53-52.

James knocked down a pair of free throws at 4:32 in the fourth, as well, extending the lead to eight.

“We know Aziaha wants to get to the rim, and we kind of allowed our guys to play one v. one, which we don’t typically do,” Banghart said. “She got those two baskets early, we long closed out, which we didn’t want to do, and she got by us. Just a few defensive mistakes, but she’s a hard matchup. She’s a good player. These are these are some of the best players in the country.”

Beyond her scoring abilities, James dished out two assists and grabbed two rebounds. While N.C. State has plenty of playmakers, James is one of its leaders, and she stepped up in a big way.