RALEIGH — It was loud. It was tense. It was physical. Did I mention it was loud?
Thursday night was everything you expect out of a rivalry game as Reynolds Coliseum was rocking and saw No. 5 NC State take down the No. 24 UNC 63-59 in a matchup of ranked women’s basketball teams.
“It wasn’t pretty by any means, especially offensively,” said NC State coach Wes Moore. “It was two teams competing really hard, defending and making everything tough out there. I like to say, ‘It’s an ugly baby, but it’s our baby.’ We at least found a way to win, so we’re happy for that. Just a gutsy win.”
Neither team able to establish too much offensively, and that allowed it to stay close the whole way.
NC State (19-2; 7-2 ACC) shot 39% from the field and went just 3 for 16 from beyond the arc while UNC shot 42% and made 4 for 18 on 3-pointers. When the shots aren’t falling, other parts of the game become even more important.
“Defense is everything to us,” said NC State senior Mimi Collins. “Our main focus was to just get stops and focus on that. We were focused on defending and not letting them score and go on a run.”
“Defense wins ball games,” said junior teammate Saniya Rivers. “So whether we’re scoring or not, we trust that our defense can win us the game, and I definitely feel like it won us that one.”
Their coach agreed.
“We say that if we can hold a team to 60 or less, we’ll win even on a bad night,” Moore said. “When you get to the NCAA Tournament, you’ve got to win on a bad night. You’re going to have one. You have to win four games to get to the Final Four against really good teams, so you’re going to have a bad night. You go to the ACC Tournament, you’ve gotta win three or four in a row and on a bad night you’ve got to find a way to win.”
Finding a way to win was exactly what NC State did, especially in the final minutes of the game as the intensity level rose to a fever pitch.
With 3:45 on the clock, the Wolfpack had seen their eight-point lead shrink to three, and the Tar Heels were pressing.
“We were really stressing to not give up a 3,” Moore said. “Especially in the last minute or two, we were really putting a priority to make sure everyone is guarding the 3-point-line.”
The Wolfpack stayed calm and didn’t let their lack of offense derail their defensive effort.
“As a leader and point guard on this team, I have to know when to calm it down,” Rivers said on the final stretch. “[UNC’s] job is to speed us up defensively because they were down and were trying to score some points, but we didn’t let them speed us up in those moments.”
As the clock ticked down, possession went back and forth with neither side able to score. But despite the lack of scoring, NC State was able to force a few key turnovers to ultimately shave the clock down.
“We got a lot of good looks,” said UNC coach Courtney Banghart. “We had three in a row that I liked. We missed 35 shots and they missed 37. There’s missed shots in a game, right? But when they’re towards the end in a possession game, they hurt a little bit more. I can guarantee Wes isn’t going to be praising how they shot the ball either. It’s just the nature of the game. They made two more shots than we did today.”
UNC relied on its top players all night, and while they certainly delivered — senior Deja Kelly scored 21 points, including 15 in the third quarter to keep her team in the game, and Alyssa Ustby had a double-double along with five steals and two blocks — they couldn’t get a basket to go in that critical stretch.
Perhaps the biggest blown opportunity in the game for the Tar Heels was after Ustby forced a turnover on an inbound with 20 seconds remaining. But UNC came away with nothing on a 3-on-1 fast break.
“That’s a play I’m going to think about a lot,” Ustby said. “What was the correct decision? I thought, regardless of the beginning of that play, we got a good look. And at the end of the day, that’s all we can ask for, a good look to the basket.”
The Wolfpack, on the other hand, had more of a balanced attack.
Collins and Rivers led the way with 14 points a piece, but there were also valuable minutes off the bench.
After junior Aziaha James picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter, freshman Zoe Brooks came in and gave NC State some key minutes along with 10 points, and freshman Maddie Cox had a big and-one basket in the second quarter.
However, the biggest boost to the Wolfpack’s offense was when James came back into the game after UNC took the lead early in the fourth quarter.
James relentlessly attacked the basket and scored eight points in the final quarter to push her team back into the lead for good.
“I’m proud of her for keeping her confidence,” Moore said. “In the past, she’d maybe hang her head a little bit and get down, but tonight I thought she stayed up, stayed involved and engaged on the bench. And when she went back in, she was able to make a couple of big plays for us.”
Both teams faced ranked opponents in their next game. UNC hosts No. 17 Virginia Tech on Sunday, and NC State hosts No. 16 Louisville on Monday.
