SAN MARCOS, Texas – Jada Boyd scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half to help best-placed North Carolina State overcome a slow start and rise to a 79-58 victory over the NC A&T with 16 places in the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament on Sunday.
NC State (21-2) makes its fourth straight tournament appearance and 26th overall, but earned a No. 1 seed for the first time. The Wolfpack will take on eighth-seeded South Florida in the second round.
The Aggies led no fewer than six in the second quarter. But NC State used a big run to take a seven-point lead at half-time before Boyd scored the first six of the second half to make it 50-37 with 7½ minutes to go in the third.
“We didn’t exactly look like a No. 1 seed or anything in the first half,” said NC State coach Wes Moore. “But hopefully it was just a situation that we had been away for so long … and maybe this will help us get a little rust off and maybe draw on it and have some confidence.”
The Wolfpack had later moved the lead to 15 in the third, before finishing the quarter with a 7-2 run, culminating in Boyd’s 3, to make it 64-44.
Moore was delighted with Boyd’s performance.
“She does that often,” he said. “She’s so athletic and tall. We needed a lift. We needed an injury and I thought she really gave us that.”
Chanin Scott’s 3-pointer cut the lead to 17 with about six minutes to go. NC State then scored nine consecutive runs in the next two minutes to extend the lead to 77-51 and Moore emptied his bench shortly after.
Boyd wasn’t sure if the Wolfpack’s early struggles were more a product of NC A&T playing well or their fight.
“A&T they came out and hit all their shots, so it was maybe a little bit of both,” she said. “
Elissa Cunane, NC State’s 6-foot top scorer, added 12 points despite battling through nearly constant double teams. Cunane came from an MVP feat by leading the Wolfpack to a second consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title, scoring 70 points in three games combined.
NC A&T (14-3), which won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title, made its fifth trip to the tournament and third in six seasons. The Aggies dropped to 0-5 in the tournament and 0-10 against NC State. They were led by Scott, who had 23 points and seven rebounds.
NC A&T coach Tarrell Robinson was asked about the difference in his team in the first and second half.
“Their intensity, our lack of focus,” he said. “What I talked about with our young women in regards to teams like NC State, we haven’t played with a team like that all year, is that they are your first option. You may have scored on them, but the next possession will be there. not be. “
NC State led three in the second quarter before the Aggies scored the next nine points to take a 35-29 lead with about five minutes to go in the quarter. D’mya Tucker started that point with a 3-pointer and added a bargain between four points by Scott.
The Wolfpack then got underway and finished the quarter with a 15-2 run to take a 44-37 lead at half time. Kai Crutchfield made a 3 pointer, grabbed a bargain and ended up with a lay-up to limit NC State’s score in that stretch. She had 14 points.
BY THE FIGURES
The Wolfpack beat the Aggies 40-22 in the paint. … NC State scored 28 points from 13 NC A&T sales. … The NC State bank outperformed the Aggies bank 33-15. … The Wolfpack also had the advantage in jump-off points 13-3.
JONES INJURED
Senior starter Kayla Jones did not play in the second half after a knee injury in the second quarter. Moore isn’t serious about it, but isn’t sure she’ll be available on Tuesday.
“She’s going to get an MRI tonight to see what’s going on,” he said. “We don’t think it’s an ACL, but it’s very sensitive.”
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