FanPost

WBB: State Loses to Wake 63-58

N. C. State's women's basketball team came into the game against Wake Forest at Wake desperately needing a win to restore their confidence. It was not the loss at Notre Dame which shattered the team's confidence, it is how the team lost. State was badly beaten 82-46; almost a 40 point loss. Of note is the fact that State did recover from a heart breaking two point home loss to Louisville, a game in which State lead by 5 with 25 seconds left, by going on the road to beat a 14-3 Virginia Tech team unbeaten at home 72-61.

State also came into the game against Wake Forest, a team they beat in Raleigh 64-47, with a conference record of 7-3, an overall record of 16-7 and a WarrenNolan RPI of 35. Wake came into the game having won their last three conference games, with a conference record of 3-7, an overall record of 12-11 and a WarrenNolan RPI of 132.

State still did not show a lot of confidence or energy in their play, especially in the second and fourth quarter, and fell to Wake 63-58. This is a bad loss for State who fell to 7-4 in conference.

GAME

State opened missing 3 of 5 bank shots but also opened playing solid defense enabling State to jump out to a 4-0 lead as the team took advantage of 3 Wake turnovers. State continued their solid play and took a 16-8 point lead at the end of the first quarter. State in the second quarter again got lost on offense not shooting well and forcing passes. As a result Wake trailed 28-26 at the half. Wake stayed in the game from the arc where they shot 63% on 5 of 8 shooting. It did not help State that Dominique Wilson was "not in the game" in the first half scoring only two points and picking up her second foul with over six minutes left in the second quarter. What helped State was that State scored 19 points off of Wake turnovers in the first half.

State lead at the end of the third quarter 48-43 after an arc shooting contest between State's Jennifer Mathurin and Ariel Stephenson of Wake. Jennifer was 5-7 from the arc through three quarters and Stephenson was 3 of 4. Mathurin had 18 points and Stephenson had 17. Wilson still was "not in the game" scoring only 2 points and picking up her third foul mid-way through the third quarter.

State fell apart in the fourth quarter unable to do much right. State made 2 of their last 12 shots. State looked like a very tired team especially Wilson. While State uses basically an eight player rotation, the starters have logged quite a few minutes per game.

STATS

Miah Spencer scored 18 points for State while Mathurin scored 21. Stephenson scored 22 for Wake. State shot 40% to Wake's 45%. State shot 30% from the arc while Wake shot 44%. Wake had 37 rebounds to State's 25. Wake had 20 turnovers to State's 14. Wilson finished 2-11 from the floor with 5 points. Dismal for her. Ashley Williams also had a dismal outing shooting 0-6 from the floor and not scoring.

OBSERVATIONS

State returns home for two games playing Boston College Thursday night and Syracuse on Valentine's Day in the always important Hoops For Hope game. The team then gets a week off before traveling to Chapel Hill were a badly beaten by State UNC team awaits.

Debbie Antonelli, my favorite analyst because I think she is the best at breaking down a game and is a former Pack player, stated that State was undersized at center. One might not buy that if one knew that the women who play center for State are six-one, six-two, six-three, six-five and six-five. Debbie also commented after Jennifer Mathurin made her second arc shot that Coach Moore might wonder where that shooting was Thursday night. A big reason is Notre Dame plays much better defense than Wake.

State will probably move to first four out in view of two straight losses one to a team with an RPI above 100.

By S. D. Basinger