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NC State women's basketball plays at Indiana with chance to avenge last season’s Sweet 16 loss

monica holland, the fayetteville observer
·4 min read
NC State and Indiana tip off during last season's NCAA tournament Sweet 16 on March 27. The No. 4-seeded Hoosiers upset No. 1 NC State, ending the Wolfpack's hopes for its first trip to the Final Four since 1998. Those teams will square off again Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
NC State and Indiana tip off during last season's NCAA tournament Sweet 16 on March 27. The No. 4-seeded Hoosiers upset No. 1 NC State, ending the Wolfpack's hopes for its first trip to the Final Four since 1998. Those teams will square off again Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

A season of Final Four aspirations came to a disheartening halt for NC State women’s basketball last March when the top-seeded Wolfpack fell to Indiana, 73-70, in the Sweet 16.

The Pack might find some measure of satisfaction with a chance to beat the Hoosiers on Thursday in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

“It was really kind of devastating afterwards, but I think we took that hurt and we fueled it into this year,” All-American center Elissa Cunane said at the ACC Tip Off event in October, still processing the sudden end to one of the Wolfpack's best seasons ever.

How to watch: NC State vs. Indiana women's basketball: Tip-off time, how to watch, TV channel

The loss derailed a journey that had NC State on pace to return to the national semifinals for the first time since 1998 and the second time ever in program history.

Coming off back-to-back ACC tournament titles with a pair of wins over No. 1 teams on the road and a No. 1 seed heading into NCAA tournament play, the Wolfpack wanted more than a third-straight Sweet 16 exit.

Now, those expectations have rolled into the current season in which the Pack is coming off a Thanksgiving Day win over then-No. 2 Maryland that bumped NC State into a tie with UConn for second-place — matching its highest-ever Associated Press ranking.

More: No. 5 NC State women's basketball has no trouble defeating No. 2 Maryland

The 5-1 Hoosiers are ranked No. 6, with their only loss coming to reigning NCAA champion and fourth-ranked Stanford.

NC State (6-1) opened the season with a loss to No. 1 South Carolina, and Thursday’s game at Indiana will be the Wolfpack’s third game against a top-10 opponent in the first 25 days of this season. It’s the second of a nonconference schedule that includes three teams that finished in the top 10 last season. A Dec. 16 home game against Georgia is the third.

“Our schedule is brutal so I just hope I still have a job at Christmas,” Wolfpack coach Wes Moore joked at the ACC Tip Off.

“We have a great schedule and I think that if we have success, it’ll build some confidence and it also exposes weaknesses. Every night is going to be a total battle. It’s going to be some great basketball.

“We’re going to find out things that we don’t do well, things that we have to do well.”

One thing the Pack is doing well is scoring.

NC State ranks second in the ACC in scoring with an 80.3 points-per-game average. All of its wins have come by 18 or more.

The Wolfpack also leads the league in overall shooting percentage (48.6%) and three-point shooting percentage (41.4%).

“We’re still a work in progress. We added some talent and we have KJ still coming off of surgery,” Moore said after the loss to the No. 1 Gamecocks.

Kayla Jones (KJ) sat out with a patella tendon injury in her knee when Indiana ousted NC State in last season’s NCAA tournament.

Still recovering, she’s been a contributor this season, averaging 7.6 points and 3.3 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per game.

“Our nonconference schedule is hard and I feel like it’s going to prepare us for the tournament,” Jones said prior to this season.

“We don’t take any team lightly. We respect every team and we take the same preparation for each game. You never know what could happen but you know there will be lessons from it.

“That’s how we look at it. We’re learning.”

No. 2 NC State at No. 6 Indiana

When: 7 p.m., Thursday

Where: Bloomington, Ind.

TV: ESPN2

What to watch for

Here are some interesting notes about Thursday’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge game between NC State and Indiana

  • Indiana upset top-seeded NC State in last season’s Sweet 16.

  • NC State returned all starters from last season’s team.

  • This will be NC State’s third game against a top-10 opponent so far this season.

  • NC State’s only loss this season came to No. 1 South Carolina.

  • Indiana’s only loss this season came to reigning national champion and fourth-ranked Stanford.

  • NC State leads the series vs. Indiana 4-1.

  • Former NC State player Ashley Williams, who graduated in 2017 after playing her way into a starting role from walk-on status, is an assistant coach at Indiana.

  • NC State’s current AP rank of No. 2 matches the highest ever in program history

Sports editor Monica Holland can be reached at mholland@fayobserver.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: NC State women vs. Indiana preview in Sweet 16 rematch